Unlocked
by MileyLoonaticsFan96
Summary: When the remains of Scooby gang and AI team join up with Angela and Evelyn, some new secrets are revealed and a new enemy rises...and then everything might just collapse... Sequel to "Your Own Demons"
1. Prologue

Unlocked

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Twin Trilogy, the story of Angel and what happens when someone from his past comes around and uncovers some old secrets and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, the first four stories of this explain the beginning and everything (if you can't find them all, try looking on my profile), and there will be a recap and trailer and everything a couple stories from now in case you wanna save yourself some reading. But I would appreciate if you'd read this anyway. So, since the first four stories took place in the middles of the the first four seasons of Angel (as specified in the author's notes in the first chapters), this one takes place almost directly after "Not Fade Away" and so on as the time cards specify. So go ahead, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Prologue

_2004…_

Angel dug a sword deep into his victim's heart and then kicked it back, knocking away the body but leaving the blood on his blade.

Meanwhile, Illyria snapped a guy's neck and punched another in the nose, kicking him in the gut at the same time.

Gunn and Spike stood back-to-back guarding each other as they kept punching and kicking as many as came along.

Angel was about to make his way over to Illyria to help her when a demon came up behind him and stuck a sword through his stomach.

"Angel!" Spike cried out. He was about to run over to help his "buddy" stand up and keep fighting, but another demon came along and he had to keep fighting by himself to cover Gunn.

Angel nearly blacked out when he felt something lift his head up.

"Angel, drink," said a soft female voice. It wasn't Illyria's. Angel would recognize the deep voice. This one was gentler…and very familiar.

Angel held his hand up and felt an arm. He put on his game face and bit into it. When he had regained strength, he stopped feeding and opened his eyes. His vision was clearing up and his wound was healing. "What?" He looked up to see who he had fed off of and saw a brunette girl of about his height with blue eyes licking the blood off of her injured arm. "Angela?"

Angel's twin sister smiled at him as she showed him that the bite marks were healing. "I came over to see how you were doing and saw this mess in the back alley. Thought I'd come to help."

"Where's Evelyn?" Angel asked as his sister helped him to stand up.

"I had her wait in the hotel," Angela answered, "She's probably up on the top floor watching us through the window. So…need some help?"

Angel smiled. "As much as we can get."

Angela smiled. "Count me in." They both turned back to the fight. "Let's take these guys down." She Vamped out.

Angel Vamped out, too.

Meanwhile, Evelyn Morris was in a room with boarded windows on the first floor of the Hyperion Hotel. She looked out one of the windows to see the three boys and two girls on the other side fighting the hoard of demons and other creatures. She gasped at the enormity of the army coming for them. She turned to the door to make sure no one was in the building and then held out her hands at the boards on the windows, tucking her teddy bear under her arm. She closed her eyes and her hands started to glow. She opened her eyes and the irises had turned completely red and the pupils disappeared. She punched her palms into the planks of wood and they broke off, flying everywhere but at her. She held her hands out even more and the window panes broke, launching bits of glass everywhere in the room and outside.

Her teddy bear turned its head to look at her. "Do you really think you have enough power at the age of 10 to help them like this?"

"Shut up!" Evelyn scolded, "I can do this!" She leaned forward and held her hands through the open windows, dropping her bear on the floor.

The bear stood up and jumped onto the sill. "I know you can do it…but do you think you can survive it?"

"I've been dead for 4 years now, Teddy, I can handle myself, sire or no." She held her hands out further and the whites of her eyes turned red, too. Just when she thought she was getting weak, she felt her power come back. She turned to see her teddy's arm on her shoulder and smiled. She pulled her arms back and threw them back out. This time, a blindingly bright white light emerged that sent all the demons running.

Angel, Angela, Spike, and Illyria all stood back and had Gunn shield them from the light.

The light then disappeared to reveal Evelyn. Evelyn grabbed her bear and jumped out the window into the street, landing firmly on her feet.

"Evelyn, what are you doing?" asked Angela.

"Saving your lives, you're welcome," Evelyn said.

"I see _your_ little nibblet's matured," said Spike.

Angela gave him a look and went over to Evelyn.

As soon as the two girls were standing right next to each other, Angel realized how much taller Evelyn had gotten. Last time he'd seen her, the teddy-hugging girl was only just above Angela's waist. This time, she was almost to her shoulder. He didn't think Vampires matured. He had always assumed Evelyn would be eternally youthful. _I guess being the Defender and Destroyer has its perks._

"Evelyn, I told you to stay put and stay out of it," Angela said.

"Oh, please," Evelyn said, "If I hadn't stepped in, three of you would be dust!"

Angela sighed. "You're right."

Illyria came out from her hiding place. "This child is yours?"

"Technically speaking," Angela said, "I thought you knew that, Fred. And not that I haven't always liked the color blue, but…you're looking a little freaky right now."

"Uh…Angela…" Angel went over to his sister. "Actually, this is Illyria. It's kind of a long story."

"Long story short, Fred's dead," Spike said.

Angela was shocked. She looked around. "Where are Wesley and Lorne?"

"Wesley's dead, too," Angel said, "And Lorne skipped out."

Evelyn was shocked. "Teddy had said you would lose most of your group…I didn't expect Wesley would be one of them."

Angela buried her head in her hands and then realized how beaten up Gunn was. "Gunn…"

"It's OK, it's just a flesh wound."

"OK, usually, that would be funny. That's not a flesh wound, that's a mortal wound." An idea hit her. She took Angel's blood-stained sword and cut her hand open. "Gunn, drink this."

"What?!" Gunn said.

"Trust me on this."

Gunn sighed and grabbed her hand. As soon as his tongue touched the wound, he spit most of the blood out, but he had taken enough blood to heal his wound.

Illyria watched this occurrence. "You should have come sooner. You could have saved Wesley."

"There was traffic in San Diego and we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque," Angela explained.

Angel smiled.

Angela turned to face him. "So how's Buffy doing?"

Angel's smile disappeared.


	2. Dead or Alive

Chapter 2: Dead or Alive

_Two years later…_

Angela sat in her room, not making any noise at all as she recollected the moments of that month two years ago.

How Connor had come along and revealed to Spike and Gunn who he really was…

How Buffy had broken up with the Immortal and Angel and Spike had been fighting over her ever since…

And how Buffy, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, Faith, Giles, Andrew, and Dawn had all come along to help the rest of the group start a Slayer Training Program in England where she now was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up and went over to the door. On the other side was Angel. "Hey."

"Hey, uh…how're you doing?" Angel came into the room.

Angela smiled and closed the door. "Good. Something up?"

"Not as far as we can tell. It's just…does Connor seem a little…_off_…to you lately?"

Angela smiled again. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Your 21-year-old son is falling for your ex-girlfriend's 19-year-old sister!"

"Dawn and Connor? No way!"

Angela cracked the door open and let Angel see through to the hall.

Dawn was on a bench outside flipping through a book. She got up and walked down the hall a little, still engrossed in the book, and bumped into Connor as he walked down the hall in the other direction, making them both drop the stuff they were holding. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorrier…"

"I'm sorriest." Dawn gazed at him as he bent over and gave her book back.

"OK, that's probably just…major teen drama or something," Angel said, walking over to the window.

Angela closed the door. "Are you kidding? It's signals! I've seen this kind of thing before. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy back. Boy tries to avoid feelings afraid that she doesn't like him back. Girl becomes obsessed and can't hide feelings anymore. And someday in the next week, they end up kissing."

"Exactly how many times have you done this before?" asked Angel.

Angela gave him a look. "Did you even notice the book she was reading?"

"_Vampire Slaying for Dummies_?"

"That was a fake cover. If you look at the text she was reading, it was part of _Pride and Prejudice_. Doesn't that seem a little mature for someone who's technically only been alive for 5 years?"

"I—"

Before Angel could finish his sentence, someone else knocked on the door. Angela went over and answered the door.

Buffy was on the other side. "Angela, we've got a situation."

Angela turned back to her brother. "I'll be right back." She walked off with Buffy.

Meanwhile, Dawn and Connor were talking to each other in the lobby.

"So, uh, you wanna hang out sometime?" asked Dawn.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" asked Connor.

"Well, we've known each other for two years," said Dawn, "It's about time one of us stood up to the plate."

Connor smiled. "OK, we just need to figure out a day and what we're gonna do…"

"What about Friday?"

"You mean, tonight Friday?"

"Yeah, the Friday that's today."

"No, I'm helping Kennedy train the 6-year-olds. What about Saturday?"

"Well, Buffy and Willow and Angela and Evelyn and I are having a girls' day that morning. What about Saturday night?"

"No, Dad and I are spending some time together then. I mean, considering the whole…_thing_ we went through, we should be spending some more father/son bonding time."

"Uh…Sunday! Everyone's free on Sunday!"

"Perfect, let's do that!"

"Great."

"Now, what are we doing?"

While that conversation continued, someone appeared in the corner of the lobby. It was a girl with short, curly blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a brown-green sweater with a red undershirt and some blue jeans. "Where am I?" She caught sight of Xander coming toward her. "Xander! Oh, you've gotta help me! Where—" Before she could finish her question, Xander literally went right through her. "What in the—?" Then memories started flooding back. How Xander and her had gone up against the First with all the Potentials and Buffy and Dawn and Andrew and Willow and Giles and Faith, how she had been helping Andrew ward off the Bringers…and how she had met her fate as a Bringer came up behind her and sliced through her chest. "I'm dead?"

Just then, another Ghost appeared next to her.

"Tara?"

The second Ghost girl looked up at her. She had much lighter blonde hair and was wearing a blue sweater and jeans. "Anya? What happened? What's going on?"

"Look, you probably don't remember but…you're dead."

"What? B-But Willow…" She stopped short when her memories came rushing back, too. How she had fallen in love with Willow, how she had been talking to Willow about Buffy and Xander…and how a stray bullet had come from a gun in the backyard and killed her. "No…no, no, no!"

"Tara, it's OK. I'm a Ghost, too."

"What?"

"It's a long story, but—"

Another Ghost appeared. This one was a guy. He was a brunette British man with glasses. He was wearing a dark sweater and pants. He got up. "What happened?" He turned to see the two girls. "Anya? Who's this? What's going on?"

"Wesley?" Anya said, "This is Tara. A-Are you dead, too?"

"What?" Wesley then remembered what had happened. How he had lost his true love to a demon, how the team had gone after the Circle of the Black Thorn…and how the demon warlock Cyvus Vail had pierced him and forced him to bleed to death. He put his hand where the wound had been. The wound wasn't there, but when he pulled his hand back it was covered in blood which disappeared after a few seconds. He turned back to the two blonde girls. "Where's Fred?"

"Who?" Tara asked.

As soon as he asked it, another girl appeared. This one was about his height with curly brunette hair. She was wearing a green T-shirt and some jeans.

"Fred?" Wesley said, smiling.

Fred turned to face him. "Wesley!" The two hugged. "What happened? Where are we? The last thing I remember was…you on my bed with me and…" Then she remembered what had happened. How she had examined a sarcophagus that was brought to her, how she had collapsed and gotten sick…and how she had died so that Illyria could arise in her body. "No…no, no, Wesley, it—How—"

"Fred, it's OK," Wesley said, "None of us know why we're Ghosts."

"'We'?" Fred looked at Anya and Tara. "Anya? Then…Wesley, no, you can't be—"

Wesley showed her the disappearing blood.

Fred backed up. "No…what about Cordy?"

As soon as she said it, a girl with short, curly brown [and partially blonde] hair appeared. She was wearing a white gown. "What? Where? Huh?"

"Cordelia, you're speaking in tongues!" Fred said.

"What happened, Fred?"

"We all died," Fred said.

"What?" Cordelia then remembered her death. How a former Power had taken over her body and put her into a coma, how she had woken up to help Angel…and how it had all just been her in a corporeal spirit. "Where's Angel? And Buffy? A-And Connor!" She then caught sight of Connor and Dawn in the center of the lobby, still talking. "OK, Connor's answered."

After that…one final Ghost appeared. This one was a dark-haired guy wearing clothes that Cordelia had always referred to as "a Greek tragedy."

Cordelia gasped. "Doyle!" She hugged him tightly. "We have got to talk about you giving me those visions. I had to become part-demon so that my head wouldn't explode!"

"Whoa, slow down there, Princess." Doyle pushed her off. "What happened? Where's Angel?" He then remembered what had happened with him. How he had fallen in love with Cordelia, how he had gotten a vision that the Scourge was coming for them…and how he had given her his visions and given his life so that Angel could keep fighting. "Oh, boy." He looked around. "Who're these people? Why am I a Ghost?"

"Actually, we're all Ghosts," Cordelia said, "This is Anya."

"I used to be a vengeance demon and then I was sliced open," Anya explained.

"And I'm Tara," Tara said, "I was shot."

"And I'm Fred," said Fred, "I was possessed by an Old One."

"And I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," said Wesley, "I was…pierced in the gut."

"Wow, your death stories are surprisingly fun," said Doyle.

Cordelia laughed. "I was put in a coma and never woke up. But the point is we're all dead and no one can see or hear us. Plus everyone walks through us with no idea we're there."

"Hey, look on the bright side!" Anya said, "We can eavesdrop on other people's conversations! Like Dawn over there talking with that cute boy!" She ran over.

"Anya! That's Connor!" Cordelia scolded, running after her. She pulled Anya back. "I wonder what she's talking to him about."

"So I'll see you then!" Dawn said as Connor walked off. She smiled. As soon as he was out of earshot, she squealed with excitement. She started walking to her room, which just so happened to be on the other side of the hall behind the Ghost group. "Hey, Anya," she said as she passed.

"Hey, Dawn."

Both girls looked up.

"ANYA?!"

"YOU CAN SEE ME?!"

Dawn turned and ran off to her room.

Before the 6 of them could run after her, they were pulled towards her and went through the wall and door that led to her room.

"Whoa!" Cordelia said, "What was that?"

Dawn backed up into her bedside table. "I thought we destroyed the First!"

"Whoa, I'm not the First!" Anya yelled.

"Then what are you?"

"A Ghost!"

"Why would you appear now?"

"Why are you the only one who can see us?" asked Doyle.

Dawn was at a loss for words. "Well…"

"'Cause she's our Seer!" Wesley realized, "That makes perfect sense! Our deaths were scattered across the timeline of the past few years. Dawn's powers were just recently activated by an act of bravery and her messengers, AKA us, were called forth. We can't leave her side until we either cross over or come back as half-Ghosts. Plus we have the ability to take over her body and access any powers we ever had when we were alive."

"If you try that—"

"Wait," Fred said before Dawn could finish her sentence, "I thought my soul was 'destroyed in the fires of resurrection.'"

"That just means you couldn't be completely brought back," Wesley explained, "It doesn't mean you can't come back as a Ghost."

"Oh, Buffy's not going to like this," Dawn said.

Buffy chose that moment to walk through the door. "What aren't I gonna like?"

"Oh, I thought you were with Angela!"


	3. Interview with Four Vampires

Chapter 3: Interview with 4 Vampires

Angel, Angela, Spike, Evelyn, Connor, Illyria, Faith, Giles, Gunn, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, and Andrew were all in the conference room of the building, sitting down at a table.

"Why did Buffy call this meeting?" asked Angel.

"Maybe she's gonna tell you that she wants to be _my_ girlfriend," Spike suggested.

"Yeah, right," said Angel, "Why would she call the rest of us?"

"To humiliate you," Spike said.

"Alright, that's it!" Angel got up. "You've been going on and on about this—"

"Well, maybe…" Spike got up, too. "…that's cause it's true!"

The two then went into a heated argument. Willow and Xander got up and tried to pull the two apart.

Buffy and Dawn came in.

"Spike! Angel!" Buffy yelled, trying to get the two to stop fighting. "Angela, get them out!"

Angela got up and got between her brother and ex-arch-nemesis. "Will you two just break it up?!" She pushed the two away from each other and pointed them back to their seats.

"Now, look, you two," Buffy said, "This fighting over me has got to stop! I didn't call this meeting so that you two could tussle over who gets to be my boyfriend. I called it about Dawn!"

"What about Dawn?" Connor asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Buffy said, "She's just been acting strange this morning."

Connor looked at Dawn. _This wouldn't have anything to do with our date, would it?_

_No, and I haven't told anyone yet, _Dawn said. "Why did we have to call a whole meeting about this?"

"Because Giles and Willow are smart and can explain anything that's going on," Buffy explained, "Angela and Illyria have expertise in magic and stuff if that's the problem, and the rest of us…can beat you up if you're something masquerading as my sister." Dawn gave her a look. "Oh, come on, stuff like that has happened before!"

Tara tapped Dawn's shoulder, getting her attention. "You should just go ahead and tell them."

"Well, maybe—" Angel started.

"Yeah, right," Dawn told Tara.

"Aha!" Spike shouted at Angel, "Even the nibblet doesn't like you!"

"It's not that!" Dawn told him.

"Dawn, just tell them!" Wesley said.

"I'm not telling them I'm seeing dead people!" Dawn yelled.

"You just did," Giles corrected.

Dawn turned back to face the group. "Hi. Forgot you were there."

"What do you mean you're seeing dead people?" asked Xander.

"Well…some Ghosts appeared this morning and…they've kind of been following me around all day."

"Ghosts?" Connor asked, "And here I thought I'd seen it all."

"So…who are you seeing?" asked Faith.

Dawn hesitated before jumbling it all in one sentence to get past the various reactions: "Anya-Wesley-Cordelia-Fred-and-some-guy-named-Doyle."

"What?!" Angel said. He got up and went over to her. "Now I know something's going on."

"Well, I refuse to believe it," said Willow, "I am a very powerful Witch and would know if there were spirits walking around the place!" She started to leave the room.

"Tell her the answer is 'everyday,'" Tara told Dawn.

"She says the answer is 'everyday'!" Dawn said, stopping Willow's tirade.

Willow turned to face her. "What?"

Dawn listened to Tara's story. Tara wouldn't tell her what the question had been. "When you visited her grave 3 and a half years ago, you asked her a question. She says the answer is 'every second of everyday.' What was the question?"

Willow smiled. "'Even though it's not beating, am I still in her heart?'" Dawn smiled. Willow was practically crying. "Tara?"

"That's my girl," Tara said.

"OK, maybe she is seeing _one_ dead person," said Angel, "What about Doyle? Cordelia and I were the only people who ever really knew him. Buffy was the only other one and he only ever said four words to her."

"Uh…" Dawn looked at him. "He has dark hair, he's Irish, 'his clothes are a Greek tragedy,' and he's half-Bracken-Demon."

"Alright, that settles it," said Angel, "She's seeing the Ghost of Doyle."

"And Wesley?" asked Illyria.

"You spent his last few minutes at his side masquerading as Fred," said Dawn, "And as for Fred…uh…"

"What were the first words she said to me?" asked Angel, knowing that Spike (oddly enough) was the only one he had ever told that to, "Back in Pylea?"

"'Handsome man save me from the monsters,'" Dawn answered.

"OK," Xander said, "Maybe she is seeing all these dead people but I refuse to believe that Cordy and Anya—"

"You first made out with Cordelia in the basement of our house when the Order of Terakka was coming after Buffy and you proposed to Anya in the basement of the magic shop while you were looking for the Dagon Sphere to help us fight Glory!"

"OK, that's them."

Giles got up. "Dawn is a Seer? This is amazing! She must have recently done an act of bravery to—"

"Not hearing anything I haven't already heard from Wesley," Dawn said. She walked over to the door and went through it.

"She always was pretty sassy," said Anya. Before she could continue, the 6 of them were pulled to her.

Dawn turned halfway down the hall and saw her 6 Ghosts. She was so startled she practically screamed. "Quit doing that!"

"What do you mean 'quit doing that'?" Cordelia asked, "You quit doing that!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Dawn argued.

"Well, neither are we!"

"Fine!"

"Dawn, what's the problem?" asked Evelyn.

"These guys! They keep following me around like I'm Robert Downey, Jr.!" Dawn turned to walk away but they kept getting pulled to her.

"I don't blame 'em," Andrew said, "He was really good in that movie."

The rest of the group gave him looks and followed, too.

"Hey!" Andrew suggested, "Maybe they have some unfinished business to attend to and they can use Dawn's fully corporeal body to complete what they started and then just get on the bus and leave."

"I don't think _Heart and Souls_ is a proper demonstration of how it works," said Dawn. She didn't seem to notice Anya beginning to think (which is never a good sign).

"The question is: 'what was the act of bravery she did this morning?'" Gunn asked.

Connor and Dawn looked at each other. _Tell them now? What? Stop doing that!_

"I asked Connor out this morning!" Dawn said.

"Told you!" Angela told Angel.

"How is that an act of bravery?" asked Spike.

Dawn looked at him. "I'm a teenage girl that's been waiting to do that for over a year now."

"OK, never mind then. I withdraw my question."

"You've been planning to ask me on a date for a year now?" Connor asked.

Dawn half-smiled and nodded.

_I think the nibblet likes your son,_ Spike told Angel.

_I think my son likes the nibblet—I mean, Dawn, _Angel responded.

"I wonder…" Anya said.

Dawn looked at Anya. "Anya…whoa, whoa, hang on…" She started backing up. Anya got over to her and knocked her behind a couch. Dawn/Anya got up. She looked down and saw that the possession thing had worked. "Whoa." She looked up and saw a mirror on the wall on the other side of the room. She went over to it and confirmed her suspicions. "OK, now I'm freaking out."

"W—" Xander then realized what was going on. He went over to Dawn/Anya and turned her around to face him. "Anya?"

Dawn/Anya smiled at him. "That's my guy, always catching on to the obvious late." Anya left Dawn's body. Dawn turned to Anya. "If you do that again, I'll kill you!" She then realized what she'd said. "OK, that was redundant, let me rephrase that…"

"I told you they could use her body!" Andrew said, "I knew Robert Downey, Jr. wouldn't lie to us!"

"Look, we can't let anyone know about this," Giles said.

"Uh, Giles, I don't think that's gonna be a problem," said Angela, grimly, "I know six people who should already know."

Meanwhile, five girls were in a circle in a dark room. Their eyes were closed and a candle was lit in the middle of the circle. Suddenly, their eyes opened.

"So…" said one named Darkana, "…the Key is a Seer and she's in love with the Vampires' child! And to top it all off, she has six Ghosts already and the kid likes her back. Good thing Fame's powers stayed." She got up. "Cass, Bella, Mel, Tammy, I'll be back in a couple days. I'm either coming back with the dead bodies of those two or I'm not coming back at all."


	4. Revenge is Always Dark

Chapter 4: Revenge is Always Dark

Angel, Angela, Evelyn, Spike, Buffy—and everybody else was gathered in the lobby of the building just after 10:00 when all the little Slayers were asleep.

"OK, so we'll split up and search the city," Angela said, "If any of you see one of them…run back here as fast you can and stay inside the magic barriers."

"Alright, anyone who's dead, go with Dawn," Buffy said.

"Alright, Dawnie, let's get going," said Doyle. Dawn got up and followed him, the other Ghosts and Angel and Angela and Spike and Evelyn following. Doyle walked through the closed door.

Dawn followed him…and banged her head on the door. "DOYLE!" she snapped. She opened the door and led her Ghosts and the Vamps through.

"That wasn't funny!" Cordelia told Doyle off, making him stop laughing, "How would you like it if she made you hit your head?"

"She can't!" Doyle said, "It's not possible! Watch…" He ran through the railing on the side of the stairs…and then through a light pole and a trash can—

"OK, now you're just showing off!" Dawn yelled.

"We're gonna have to put up with this the whole way there, aren't we?" asked Angela.

"Probably," said Spike, "She's driving me—"

"Shirt-y?" asked Angel, mockingly.

"Maybe."

Dawn groaned and kept ranting at Doyle. "Cordelia's right, you are annoying!" She gasped. "That's it!" She knocked her foot up, apparently to kick him, but went right through him. "If you weren't incorporeal, that would have hurt!"

Angela dragged Dawn off. "Come on."

While Angela went down one side of the street the group was on a half hour later with Evelyn, and Angel and Spike investigated the other side, Dawn took her Ghosts down an alleyway.

Doyle picked up a trash can lid and began flipping it around. "Hey, Anya!" Anya turned to look at him. "Catch!" He threw it at her like a Frisbee and she frantically moved to catch it…but it went right through her. Doyle started laughing.

"Very funny," said Anya.

Tara noticed a piece of glass on the ground. She picked it up and examined it. It was covered in blood. She dropped it and looked up at the wall. She gasped. "Guys?" Everyone turned and saw what she was seeing.

"Uh, guys!" Dawn called to the 4 Vampires, who came running, "You might wanna see this! Well, you probably don't _want_ to see it, but…"

Angela, Evelyn, Spike, and Angel all came up.

"Oh, boy," said Angela.

There was writing on the wall in blood: "The Seer shall die when the darkness returns."

No one, though, seemed to notice the shadowy figure of a person on the roof.

Finally, Cordelia looked up and gasped when she saw the figure as it turned and left.

"What is it?" Dawn asked Cordelia.

Cordelia hesitated. "Nothing."

_Later…_

"'The Seer shall die when the darkness returns'?" Xander quoted as the group made their way across the roof of a building that showed them half the city, "Are you sure that's what it said?"

"Positive," said Angela, "And I'm also positive that that was real human blood. Only thing is there was no body."

"But Tara found a piece of glass covered in blood," Dawn explained.

"Someone was tortured," Angel figured it out, "The victim was pierced so that the blood could be drawn out to write the message on the street they knew we would investigate."

"One of the Gales is here," Angela reasoned.

"Or someone working for 'em," suggested Spike.

"Yeah, right," said Angela, "The Gales are a 'do-it-yourself' program. They wouldn't hire a torturer just to send a message to us." Angela smiled like a know-it-all.

"What if they've turned someone?" asked Faith.

Angela's smile faded in realization of the truth of that statement. Then turned around quickly as though she'd heard something.

"What is it?" asked Kennedy. Angela shushed her. "But—" Angela shushed her again. "We—" Angela shushed her one last time and then walked forward.

Angel went over to the rest of the group and explained in a whisper: "She has enhanced senses stronger than any Vampire or Werewolf. She could hear a twig snap from a couple miles away."

Angela then felt her Vampire detector go off and she quickly out and stake and lunged at the Vampire.

"Whoa, hey, watch it!"

"Harmony?!" Cordelia, Buffy, Dawn, Angel, Spike, Gunn, Fred, and Wesley all cried.

Angela turned to them and pulled the stake back. "You know her?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't still stake her, keep going!" Spike commanded.

"Some way to talk to someone you turned just to make out with her!" Harmony yelled at him.

Angela crossed her arms at Spike.

"What, you're just gonna believe the lying little Vampire twit?" Spike asked.

"Trust me, I would sense if she was lying," said Angela, "I have an advanced Vampire detector as well."

"So who are you?" asked Harmony, "And what are you doing with this gang?"

"I'm Angela," said Angela.

"Wow, your name's really similar to Angel's!" Harmony commented.

"That's because she's my twin sister," Angel explained.

"Oh," Harmony said, "I really missed a lot, didn't I? Anyway, so you're a Vamp, too?" Angela nodded. "What have you guys been up to lately?"

"Training little Slayers," said Dawn, "And I've been seeing dead people."

"Sounds like fun!"

Angela rolled her eyes and then her expression changed from utter annoyance to complete shock. "Hey, guys!" She motioned for everyone to come over to the edge of the roof and then they all looked down. There was no one in the alley or on the street or anything.

Harmony leaned over, too. "I don't see anything." Everyone looked at her. "What?"

Angel, Angela, Buffy, Spike, Evelyn, Connor, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Gunn, and Giles all gathered in a circle and put their hands in, resulting in a radio-like tune-in in their heads of what Angela was hearing.

"_I'm telling you guys," said a cold, bloodthirsty, feminine voice, "the Slayer's sister definitely is the Seer and I have set the stage."_

_Darkana, _Angela told the others.

"_Well then, kill them already!" snapped another girl's voice. This one seemed to be coming from the other end of a phone._

_And Melody, _Angel added.

"_Honestly, Darkie, we didn't send you all the way to England to play with their minds. We sent you to snap their necks and/or turn 'em to dust."_

"_You didn't send me at all, Mel! I volunteered to come here! And this is how we do things. Now our powers are shared with each other except for your mind manipulation so we need to…hang on, I think someone's listening in on this call."_

Angela took her hand out. "They found us."

"Who did?" asked Andrew.

"Me." Everyone turned to see Darkana on the edge of the roof. "So this little midget is the great Seer. What a let-down."

"Who you calling a midget?" Dawn snapped back, "And how'd you get here so fast?"

"Isabella's speed," Darkana explained, "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Your powers are shared…" Angela quoted.

"And how," Darkana responded, "So we can do this the hard way or…actually, there's just the hard way." She kicked Dawn in gut and sent her flying to the other side of the roof, knocking her into Illyria.

Illyria pushed Dawn off and stood up.

Dawn opened her eyes back up and the pupils and irises had disappeared, turning her eyes entirely white. She held out her hand and two blue fireballs went flying at Darkana, knocking her off the roof and onto a car. Dawn's eyes turned back to normal, but her hands were still lit up with blue flames. "No way…" The flames disappeared as soon as she stood up. She turned back to the group to see Harmony running over to the door that led to the inside of the building.

Connor went over to the edge of the roof that Darkana had fallen off of. Before he could blink, Darkana came back up, held his hands behind his back with one hand, and held a knife at his throat with the other.

"Alright, that's it!" Angel started to charge at her, but Angela held him back.

"Wait!" Angela turned back to Darkana. "Come on, we both know you're not gonna kill him."

Darkana considered that. "You know what? You're right." She slowly let the knife down…and then stabbed him in the gut and Vamped out. "But a little taste couldn't hurt!" She bit deep into his neck.

Angela's eyes turned green and then she Vamped out and jumped at Darkana, allowing Connor to fall back down on the roof. She wrestled her ex-friend and then grabbed her stake. Before she could take the final plunge while Darkana was still in her Vampire state, Darkana grabbed her wrist and attempted to keep her away.

"Connor!"

Angela turned to see Dawn and Angel helping Connor sit up. Connor was bleeding very badly.

"Make a choice, Aingael," said Darkana, "Kill me or save the boy." She smiled. "Don't have time for both."

Angela thought about it for two seconds and then dropped the stake, allowing Darkana to get up and jump off the roof. Angela turned around and pushed her way through to Connor. "Move!" She held out her hand and the dagger flew into it. She cut her arm open and made Connor drink the blood.

"What are you doing?!" Dawn shouted.

"Relax, Darkana didn't take enough to change him," said Angela, "And even if she did, only her blood would finish the job."

"Well then, what—" Before she could finish her question, Dawn noticed that Connor's wounds were beginning to heal. Connor stopped drinking, leaned his head back to breathe, and then felt himself returning to normal.

"How did you—" Faith started.

"My blood can heal people," Angela explained just before licking off what was left of the blood and healing her cut, "We'd better get back to the building before one of the little Slayers wakes up and notices we're all gone."

Dawn was alone in her room. She was writing down the day's events in one of her many diaries:

It's not hard to have fun around this place. Today, Wesley, Anya, Fred, Tara, Cordelia, and some guy named Doyle all appeared in Ghost form and aren't allowed to leave me alone! Luckily, I finally got Connor to go out with me. Unluckily, he was almost killed by Darkana. Yes, Darkana, the leader of the Gales, who we thought were going to leave us alone now. Guess not. Fortunately, we have a whole army or two of Slayers on our hands. Unfortunately, the majority of them haven't been completely trained. Anyway

Dawn stopped when she heard her door opening. She looked up to see Connor come in and close the door behind him.

"Hi," Connor said.

I gotta go. Bye!

Dawn quickly dropped her pen, closed her book, and stored both of them in the drawer of her bedside table. "Hi."

Connor walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. "So, uh…fun day, huh?"

Dawn smiled and then noticed her 6 Ghosts sitting on the floor across the room. Anya was examining her incorporeal hands; Doyle was bouncing a small ball; Cordelia and Wesley were both reading a book; Tara was waving two of her fingers to see the magic dust fly off them; and Fred just smiled at Dawn and waved at her. "Can't you just zone out for a few minutes?!"

"Sorry, I'll leave," Connor said, getting up.

"No, no!" Dawn pulled him back. "Not you, THEM!"

The 6 Ghosts dropped what they were doing and turned invisible. Dawn was unaware that they were just in the hall.

Dawn turned back to Connor. "OK, what were you saying?"

"Well, uh…things got kind of out of control and now I have to go patrolling with Angela and Dad on Sunday."

"So, we won't get our date."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, it's OK, we'll just work out some other time which will probably never come with this whacked-out group in the same building together and I just don't know how this is gonna work and—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Connor kissed her.

Dawn smiled when they parted. "That was a really nice way of telling me to shut up." Connor smiled, too. "How about a little bit more?" She kissed him, wrapping her arms around him.

Meanwhile, the six Ghosts waited in the hall.

"How long do you think they'll be talking?" Doyle asked.

"Knowing Dawn…an hour," Anya answered.

"They shouldn't be _that_ long," Tara objected, "I mean, sure, asking him out was her act of bravery that drew us forward but…OK, maybe they'll be talking all night."

"Meanwhile, we'll be out here talking to each other when no one else can hear us and we can't leave this spot without being drawn back into that room," Wesley said.

"Well, we probably don't have to worry about it," Fred said, "We can have just as much fun out here as we can in there!"

Just then, Buffy came along and turned out the hall light, leaving the Ghosts stranded in complete darkness.

"Oh, yeah," said Cordelia, "This is _way_ better." She sighed. "Dawn's lamp is still on, I'll go check and see if it's safe." She peeked her head through the door and saw that Dawn and Connor…let's just say that the making out was getting a little wild. Cordelia retreated. "I don't think we're gonna be able to go in there at all tonight."


	5. Moment of Truth

Chapter 5: Moment of Truth

Cordelia was lying on the floor in the hall when she woke up. She looked around and realized two things: 1) the sun was just rising. 2) she had used Doyle as a pillow all night. She quickly scrambled up. She peeked through the door to see if Dawn and Connor were up yet. Just to stay safe, she made sure that she was still invisible to even Dawn before looking in.

Dawn opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room. The first thing she noticed was that she was lying right next to Connor. She blinked a few times in surprise and then peeked under the covers and remembered what had happened the past night. She buried her face in her pillow. "Oh, boy," she mumbled (even though it sounded like "Mo, foy").

Connor woke up and wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, there, cutie."

Dawn smiled and peeked up at him. "Ha ha."

"So what are we going to do today?"

"First things first, we need to put some clothes on." She started to come out from under the covers, but pulled back. "Please tell me you were a virgin before this, too."

Connor considered what to tell her. Technically speaking, everyone except him, Cordelia, Wesley, Illyria, and Angel remembered him being a virgin. "Sure…" Dawn gave him a look. "OK, once, but it doesn't count because that pretty much didn't happen. It's kind of a long story."

Dawn rolled her eyes, smiling.

Cordelia pulled herself back. "Time to get up." She shook Fred. "Fred…Fred! Wake up! FRED!" Fred scrambled up.

Wesley got up. He was right next to Fred on the floor.

Doyle got up then, too, followed by Tara and, finally, Anya.

After all the Ghosts had gotten up, Connor snuck out of Dawn's room, wearing the same clothes he'd had on the night before, and Dawn waved goodbye.

Dawn leaned against the wall next to the doorway as she closed the door and sighed. She turned her head slightly to see her 6 Ghosts come through the door (and I literally mean _through_ the door) and screamed slightly. She gasped for breath. "You guys scared me!"

"We're dead, who wouldn't we scare?" asked Doyle. Cordelia thumped him in the back of the head. "OW! Watch it, Princess!"

Dawn glared at them.

Fred then realized something. "Uh, Dawn? Why do you and Connor have on the same clothes you were wearing when we left the room last night?"

Dawn's eyes darted all over the room [basically, everywhere but at her 6 Ghosts]. "Because…" She slowly inched toward her closet.

Fred gasped in realization. "No! You and Connor?!"

"No!" Dawn defended herself. Cordelia crossed her arms and gave Dawn a look. "OK, he is sweet and dreamy and funny and he really likes me and last night would have been a moment of true happiness, but—Oh boy, I'm in love with my sister's ex-boyfriend's son!" She walked into her closet and closed the door. "There! I admitted it! Leave me alone!"

"Dawn, I don't think it works that way—" Wesley started.

"No, I mean, leave me alone, I have to change my clothes!"

Wesley and Doyle turned away.

Angela was in her room. She knelt down on the floor and opened her trunk. She pulled out a tiny jewelry box and opened it. Inside was the necklace her brother had given her a couple months before Connor had been conceived. She pulled it out, closed the box, put the box back, and put the necklace on. She closed her trunk and went to look at herself in the mirror. Only then did she remember that she had no reflection. Come to think of it, I don't quite know why she even had a mirror. She sighed.

A knock sounded on the door and Angel opened it. "Hey, Angela."

"Hey, bro."

"I still can never get used to you calling me that," Angel said.

"Maybe it's because we hadn't even met each other until 7 years ago and barely saw each other until two years ago."

"Maybe that's it. Look, I just wanted to tell you…thanks." Angela gave him a confused look. "For what you did for Connor last night."

Angela half-smiled. "Hey, I wasn't gonna let my nephew die."

Angel smiled.

Just then, Connor ran by. "Hey, Dad!"

"Hi, Con—" He couldn't say anymore before Connor turned the corner and went out of sight.

"Is he wearing the same clothes he had on last night?" asked Angela. Angel gave her a weird look and she shrugged.

Connor closed and locked his door and sighed. [Sound familiar?] He went over to his window and opened it to breathe in the fresh air. Before he could come back in, a hand reach out and grabbed him, pulling him out. He tried to call for help, but Darkana's hand was covering his mouth and restricting any sound he could make.

"If you even try to get out, I'll kill you," Darkana warned. She pulled him away.

A few hours later, Angel was knocking on Connor's door, trying to get his son to come out. Dawn was with him. She needed to talk to Connor.

Willow, Buffy, Xander, and Angela came up.

"What's up with Connor?" asked Angela.

"I don't know," said Angel, "He locked his door and won't come out."

Anya looked through the wall to see what was going on. She pulled back. "Dawn…"

Dawn listened to what Anya had to say. "Angel." Angel turned to her. "Kick the door down."

Angel kicked the door down. They went in and realized that the room was empty and the window was open.

Willow went over to the bed. "The covers aren't even messed up. He never makes his bed. I should know, I'm the one who does. He didn't sleep in here last night."

Dawn made no reaction. She was _not_ going to tell Buffy and Angel about what had happened that last night.

"But Angel and I saw him a few hours ago," said Angela, "He…was running _towards_ this room just after sunrise…wearing the exact same clothes he'd had on last night—OK, something weird is going on here."

Dawn just rocked back and forth on her feet.

Willow turned to Dawn. "Dawnie…" Dawn looked at her. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

Dawn scoffed. "No." She looked away.

After a few seconds, Angel and Buffy both turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Xander tapped Dawn's shoulder. "Dawnie, telepathic link, we all heard you."

"Uh…" Dawn quickly tried to think up an excuse as Buffy crossed her arms at her. "I didn't think that right. I mean, I meant to say—"

"Yeah, of course, you did," Angel said.

"Dawnie…" Buffy started.

"Hey, it's not like you two didn't—Will, Xander, Angie, you wanna help here?" Dawn asked as she started starting backing towards the open window.

"Hey, your fight," said Xander, "We're not getting involved. Plus, I kind of don't wanna lose my other eye."

"Well, then it's two to one and that's not fair," Dawn continued ranting as she reached the window, "And worse, it's a Vampire and a Slayer against a pyrokinetic Seer, and you know, I have 6 Ghosts on my hands so—why are the bushes so messed up?"

"Don't change the subject," Buffy said.

"I'm not trying to," corrected Dawn, "But I am seeing footprints."

"What?" Buffy went over there and looked out the window, too, followed by Angel, Xander, Willow, and Angela. "There are footprints here. Two sets, too."

"One of them is Connor's," said Angel, "I'd know his scent anywhere."

"OK, that's a little disturbing," said Dawn.

"Not as disturbing as the fact that I'm smelling him all over you," said Angel.

Dawn's eyes darted back and forth again. "I changed my clothes."

Angela gasped in realization (they're doing that a lot, aren't they?) and leaned back.

"What is it?" asked Angel.

Angela scooted down the right shoulder of her top to show them that her lightning-shaped mark was glowing again. "Darkana was here."

_Meanwhile…_

Darkana threw Connor into a wall in an alleyway. "OK, here's the deal. You killed my friend, I'm going to kill you, la-di-da-di-da, everything works out…for me."

Connor caught sight of a knife not far from the place he was sitting and began to slowly and inconspicuously move his hand toward it while Darkana kept ranting.

"…and you know what? Don't even think about it!"

Connor curled up his fingers. "About what?"

"Using that stupid link to call your friends for help."

Connor sighed [inwardly] with relief and kept inching toward the knife. "Don't worry. I don't need their help."

"I see you haven't changed much. Plus, 1-on-1 is so much easier…not as much fun, but it's easier."

Connor finally grasped the knife tightly. "I'll tell you what's gonna make this easier." He stabbed himself. "Keeping you from killing me." He pulled the knife out and fell to the ground.

Darkana knelt down and helped him sit up. "You really think I'm going to let you die knowing that it wasn't my fault?" She Vamped out. "Yeah, right!" She bit deep into his neck. When she felt his heart start to slow, she stopped feeding, ripped the shoulder off her top, took the knife, cut open her mark, and made him drink the blood.

_One day later…_

The group was walking down a street looking for any sign of Darkana and Connor. But the only thing any of them could hear was Buffy ranting at Dawn.

"…and you know what, so what if I went through that…night with Angel, that was a completely different circumstance."

"Not really," Angel corrected, "One of us had almost died, we'd ran, and when we knew we were safe, we made out. Same thing happened with them." Buffy gave him a look. "Hey, my son."

"My sister."

"My being tired of hearing this," Dawn groaned.

"Oh, this is torturing you?" Buffy asked. Dawn nodded. "Good."

"Buffy!" Willow said, stopping them. Darkana was at the end of the street.

Dawn went into the same form as the night before the last night (you know, white eyes, flaming hands).

"Relax, midget, I'm not gonna kill you guys," said Darkana.

"I think I prefer Spike calling me 'nibblet'," Dawn said as she returned to normal.

"Where's my son?" Angel asked.

"Who?"

"Connor!" Dawn yelled, "Where is he?!"

"About yea high, dark hair, spent an entire night kissing you?" Dawn nodded. "Never heard of him."

"Darkana!" Angela scolded, "This is no time for jokes. Where's my nephew?"

"Oh, that guy! Yeah, you mean the one I killed last night?"

"WHAT?!" Dawn shouted.

_Another day later…_

Dawn was on the stairs that led out of the building. The rain was pouring down and drenching her hair, just like her tears (except for the hair part).

Cordelia sat down next to Dawn. "You'll find someone else."

"There is no one else like him."

"If you love someone, you'll let them go. And if _they_ really love _you_, they'll come back." Cordelia winked at Doyle.

"Not if they're dead."

"I'm trying to help here!"

"Well, you're not doing so well. Go away."

"I can't leave your side, Dawnie, remember?"

"I don't care, just GO AWAY!"

Cordelia got up and walked over to the rest of the Ghost group. "I tried."

Dawn curled herself up in a ball and continued to cry.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with me, would it?"

Dawn stopped crying and looked up to see Connor a few yards away. "Connor!" She ran over to him. "I was so scared. She told us you were dead!"

"Darkana? And you believed her?"

"Well, yeah. I guess I was so scared I was willing to believe anything."

"I'm here now. It's gonna be OK." Connor kissed her.

"Whoa, didn't see that coming," said Doyle.

While Dawn's eyes were closed, Connor stopped kissing her and pulled back…revealing to the Ghosts that he was a Vampire now.

Cordelia gasped.

"And I especially didn't see that coming!" Doyle cried.

Before Dawn could open her eyes and make her reaction, Connor bit her. Dawn winced in pain, feeling her blood drain, but didn't have the strength or heart to fight back.


	6. Not Again!

Chapter 6: Not Again!

Dawn tried to push Connor away but he was too strong. Doyle ran over and prepared to punch Connor in the face. But before he could make his move, Connor backed off.

Cordelia was confused. No Vampire she'd ever seen had done that before. Although Buffy had once told her that Angelus had spit out the blood of a member of the swim team, but that guy was on steroids. There was nothing wrong with Dawn…was there?

"Connor…" Dawn couldn't say anything. She was too scared and sad.

"What?" Connor asked, turning back to normal, "You're shocked to see that your boyfriend is a blood-sucker, just like his dad…except with no soul."

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm not."

"Why would she do this to you?" Dawn started backing away inside the magic barriers, not willing to look at him for another second.

"Why else? You saw that message written in blood. She wants the Seer dead. Guess what, Dawnie? That's you."

Dawn was crying again.

"So do both of _us_ a favor and both of _you_ back off."

Dawn stopped crying and looked up at him. "'Both'?"

Connor gave her a look. "You mean you don't know already?"

"Know w—" She then realized what he meant. "No way…"

"Now you get it."

Fred was shocked. "Dawn's pregnant? With Connor's baby?"

Dawn put her hand on her womb. She felt something in there. Connor's taste test was right.

"We'll pick this up later," said Connor, "Preferably after you get that thing out of you." He ran off.

Dawn was filled with a thousand feelings at the same time: remorse for allowing Connor to be taken; dismay for the fact that she wouldn't be able to take care of the child if this battle kept going; disappointment that Connor was going to be a soulless blood-sucker when the baby was born; worry of what Buffy and Angel and everyone else would think; and most of all, fear that what was inside her wasn't human. She had heard the story of what had happened with Cordelia that had made her die. Was that going to happen to her now?

Cordelia walked over to Dawn. "If it helps, a coma's not that bad."

Dawn gave her a look. "Cordy, what am I going to tell the others? Angel and Angela will freak out when they hear about Connor. And Buffy and Angel will kill me if they find out that I'm pregnant. You saw what happened when they found out about me and Connor."

"They're going to find out sooner or later, Dawn," said Wesley, "Which means it's best you tell them now."

_A half hour later…_

Everyone was silent. Dawn had just told them about how Connor had been turned.

Angela was practically in tears.

Angel was refusing to say anything.

Everyone else was just plain shocked.

Buffy still couldn't get past Dawn and Connor's night together, though.

"I can't believe it," said Evelyn, "He was pretty much my cousin. And considering the fact that Angela's my sire, we technically are blood."

"What's your teddy tell you?" asked Spike, "That we should go find him and stake him before he can come crawling back for Dawn?"

"What I don't get is why he backed off," said Willow, "It can't be because he still likes her, because that would just provoke him to turn her." She turned to Dawn. "You're not on steroids, are you?" Dawn gave her a look. "Just checking."

"Actually, there's…kind of…something I left out," said Dawn, receiving looks from Angel and Buffy. _Just like I suspected. _"He told me…that Darkana wants me dead, but…he said… How do I put this?"

"Dawn, come out with it," Buffy said, "Whatever he said was probably to provoke you to give up or something so that he could kill you. You know how Vampires work. Remember, that wasn't your boyfriend, it was the thing that killed him."

"Oh, great."

"What?"

"I'm dating a Vampire. NOT AGAIN! Please tell me that the blood those monks put in me from you was not the one that curses me to continuously fall in love with Vampires."

"Who says you were in love with the first one?"

Dawn started to say something but then rethought it. "Good point."

"Wait, Dawn dated a Vampire before?" Angel asked.

"Oh, keep up!" all the girls said.

"And another thing," Dawn told Buffy, "I'm sure he was telling the truth. I checked. Multiple times."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, "What'd he say? Just tell me."

Dawn hesitated. Her stomach was tying up in a knot (but not literally, that'd be disgusting). "He said I'm pregnant."

Angela's eyes widened in shock until they were as big as the moon (not literally either, that'd also be disgusting).

Gunn turned to Angel. "Congratulations, you're gonna have a grand-spawn."

"That's exactly what you said when you found out Cordy was pregnant with Jasmine," Angel said, "Look how that turned out."

"It can't be that bad," Willow said. She put her hand on Dawn's room and then her expression changed completely. "Oh, I guess it is that bad."

"What?" Dawn asked.

"It's nothing," said Willow, "It's just that…I mean, the child of a Seer and a part-demon Vampires' child must be very hard to determine when it's still inside the womb. All I'm getting is vague screeches of power and…the rest is all fuzzy."

"Well, how can we know that Connor wasn't lying?" Xander asked as Dawn pulled him into the bathroom, "I mean one or two tests is not gonna—" She pointed out the sink, which about seven of those home pregnancy test things, all reading positive. "Oh." He went back into the main room. "Never mind then."

"So let me get this straight," said Angel, walking over to them, "Three nights ago, my son made out with my ex-girlfriend's little sister. The next morning, he was taken by my twin sister's ex-friend and turned into a Vampire. Tonight, he came back, tried to bite Dawn, and backed off because she's pregnant with his child."

"That about sums it up, yeah," Angela said.

"You don't think the kid's gonna be another crazed Slayer, do you?" asked Spike.

"With Vampire blood in them?" Willow scoffed, "I highly doubt it."

"So…" Andrew said, "The sister of the Slayer of the Vampires is seeing dead people, in love the son of two Vampires, and pregnant with his child even though they're not married, at least not officially…that just screams TV series! I'll go get my camera!"

"Andrew!" Buffy yelled, stopping him from leaving.

"Hey, I just realized something," said Xander, "Now Buffy can't go with Angel or Spike."

"What are you talking about?" asked Faith.

"Well, look at it this way," Xander explained, "Say Connor gets his soul back and marries Dawn. If Buffy chooses Angel, Angel's son is his brother-in-law. If Buffy chooses Spike, Angel is Spike's father-in-law."

"Oh, that would be awkward," said Angela, "But I doubt Connor would be able to completely get his soul back if Darkana is his sire considering she's only half-Vampire." _DING!_ She then realized something. "I have an idea."

_Later…_

Angel, Buffy, Spike, Angela, Willow, and Dawn were walking through an old abandoned building. [The bad guy is always in an old abandoned building if you haven't noticed.] It was almost midnight and the rain was calming down.

"Hello?" Angela called out, her voice echoing.

"Look who's here." Connor came up behind them and all 12 of them (I'm counting the Ghosts) turned to face him.

Angela barred Connor from the link for second to talk to Dawn, Willow, Buffy, Angel, and Spike: _Don't listen to anything he says, just separate and lead him to me when I give the signal._

_Or we could just stake him now and get it over with, _Buffy suggested, holding up a crossbow.

_Buffy, he's the father, remember?_ Dawn said, pushing the crossbow away, _We can't just kill him. Angela's the one with the plan. We listen to her._

"What are you waiting for?" asked Connor, "You came here for a reason. Get it over with."

"Good idea," said Angela, "NOW!"

Buffy launched the crossbow and the bolt lodged itself in Connor's shoulder. When Connor had pulled it out, everyone was gone.

Connor sighed and dropped the bolt on the floor. "This ought to be fun." He looked around but couldn't find anyone. He came to a corner and sensed a presence. "You really thought you could get away?" He turned to Dawn. "I got more than you think from my father."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

_Dawn, I'm over here._

Dawn turned in the direction she felt the message coming from.

"If you run, I'll just follow you."

Dawn smiled. "I have no doubt that you will." She ran in the direction Angela was.

"And this _also_ ought to be fun." Connor ran after her. She turned a corner. He turned, too…and Angela was there instead and kicked him in the face.

"You really think you can stop us from dusting you?" asked Angela, knowing that, with her experience, she could play with his mind as well as he or Angelus could with anyone else, "You're not even strong enough to take out me."

Connor smiled mischievously and put on his game face. "Wanna bet?" He but into her neck.

Angela felt herself draining, just like she intended Connor to think would happen, and then put on her own game face and bit into his neck. The two kept feeding off each other and felt their powers combining, exactly as Angela had planned. By the time the rest of the group came back, they were too weak to continue and they both fell to the ground.

Angel went over to his sister as she began to black out. "Angela…"

Angela looked at him. "I'm sorry." She collapsed.

"About what?" asked Spike. Before he could keep going, Connor groaned and started to get up. Spike prepared to stake him.

"Wait!" Angel said, remembering what had happened last time Angela had pulled the "feeding-off-each-other" trick.

Connor got up. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Dawn asked, walking over to him.

"No," Connor said, making Dawn fish through her bag and take out a small mirror, "W—" Before he could finish, Dawn showed him his reflection…he had none. "Oh."

"He really doesn't remember," Buffy contemplated.

"Of course not," said Angel, "Angela shared her infection with him."

"What does that mean?" asked Willow.

"It means he's not the one you should be trying to dust." Angela came up behind her and pinned her to the wall. When Willow got a good look at her…her eyes were red. "I am."


	7. Come Back to Me

Chapter 7: Come Back to Me

Willow struggled to get out of Aingael's grasp. Spike started to make a move to help her, but Aingael turned to him and some of the boxes moved over, making a wall that kept any of the 5 of them from getting to Willow.

"Face it, Witch," said Aingael, not noticing a baseball bat rising up from one of the boxes by itself behind her, "No one's gonna save you now." Before she could keep going, the bat hit her in the head and knocked her out, freeing Willow.

Dawn walked over to the barricade of boxes. "Thanks, Wesley."

Wesley nodded.

_Later…_

Angela was sprawled out on a couch in the meeting room of the building while Connor listened to the story of what had happened to him.

"Wow," said Connor, "I guess it's a good thing Angela came along."

"And, uh, Connor, there's one more thing," Dawn said.

"This isn't like saving the bad news till the end is it?"

"No, it's saving the best for last," Dawn said, moving her chair over so that she was only a few inches in front of him, "After you bit me, you backed off. There was something in my blood that you didn't like. You started talking about how Darkana wanted me dead and then said, and I quote, 'do us both a favor and both of you back off.' And I started saying, '"Both"? There's seven of us.' And you…don't care, do you?" Connor shook his head slowly. "Let me just cut to the chase…I'm pregnant."

Connor fainted.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Dawn asked.

Connor pulled himself up. "You're pregnant?" Dawn nodded. "Oh, boy."

"Or girl," Willow joked.

Angela chose that moment to wake up. "I take it the plan worked?"

"Sure did," said Angel, helping her get up, "Connor's soul is, at least partially, back in."

"Yay. So who knocked me out?"

"Wesley," Dawn, Connor, Angel, Buffy, Spike, and Willow all answered.

"The only problem we need to be worrying about is what to do about Darkana," said Giles, "I don't think she's going to be too happy to find out that Dawn is pregnant and Connor's soulful."

"Oh, trust me, she won't like it," said Angela, "Main reason she came here was to kill 'em both."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Andrew said.

"NO!" everyone else shouted.

"Now, normally, I'd agree, but this is a good one!"

_Later…_

Willow lit a candle. "This _is_ a good idea, Andrew. Bring back Dawn's new friends as half-Ghosts and take advantage of Darkana's demon-change to transform Connor into a half-Vampire so that Darkana is supremely outnumbered."

"I do my best," Andrew said.

Willow smiled and went over to Dawn, who was talking to her Ghost friends. "Dawn." Dawn turned to face her. "Before we do the spell, I need to talk to Tara."

Dawn smiled. "OK, but no kissing, for four reasons. 1: I'm taken. 2: You're taken. 3: I'm pregnant. And 4: I'm not a lesbian."

Willow smiled. "I'll try to avoid the temptation, Dawnie."

Tara smiled. "Same goes for me." She went into Dawn's body. Dawn/Tara looked at Willow and smiled. "Hey, Willow."

Willow smiled, too. "Hey, Tara." She sighed. "Look, there's something I have to tell you."

"Let me guess," Dawn/Tara said, "After I was murdered, you flayed the guy alive and then tried to destroy the world."

"Good guess. How'd you know that?"

"Dawn already told me. Listen, you can do the spell, Will, you don't need my help. You're strong and you can handle anything. When we go up on that roof, Darkana's gonna come, we'll fight her for five minutes, the spell will kick in, and 20 seconds later we'll be fully corporeal and Connor will be half-alive."

"There's one other thing…I'm with Kennedy."

Dawn/Tara half-smiled. "I know. We can still be friends."

"I don't wanna 'still be friends'!" Willow whined, "I wanna be with you. But I'm feeling rather torn now that you're back and it's very confusing and heart-wrenching and—"

"Willow!" Willow stopped ranting. "She didn't say we couldn't hug."

Willow smiled and hugged her. When she let go, Tara left Dawn's body. Dawn turned to Tara and smiled at her. She then caught sight of Wesley and Fred kissing.

"Oh, get a room," said Anya.

"Like you don't wanna do the same to Xander," Dawn said.

"Who wants to do what to Xander?"

Dawn turned to see Xander where Willow had been standing. Dawn looked over to the rest of the group to see that Willow was back making last-minute preparations for the spell. "Anya. Kiss you."

"Still likes the Xan-man, huh?"

"Yeah… Let's just go up to the roof and let Willow and Andrew do the spell." Dawn led Xander and her Ghosts back to the group.

While Andrew was helping Willow work on the spell, everyone else went up to the roof of the building.

"Yoo-hoo, Miss Kill-Everyone-Who-Comes-Your-Way?" Angela called out.

"Looking for me?" Everyone turned to see Darkana. "I see my plan with this little brat fell through."

Connor crossed his arms at her. "Got that right. I'm with the good guys."

"So are we going to talk or fight?" asked Darkana.

"Oh, we're fighting," Buffy said. She jumped at Darkana, but Darkana just used Isabella's strength to knock back the Slayer. "Oh, Willow, please hurry." Buffy jumped up.

"Bringer of Death, Keeper of the Living," Willow chanted, "Return to their rightful places your seven children. Let breath return to their corporeal bodies and allow their power to flow their veins as their hearts beat once more."

Connor got out a sword and swung to cut off Darkana's head, but she leaned back before he could.

"Decapitation? Again? Really?"

"No," Connor said, "Just a distraction to keep you from getting Angela."

Angela jumped up behind Darkana before even Isabella could have gotten her and bit into her neck, taking some of her power. "That worked out just fine."

While Angela felt herself temporarily coming into the other Gales' bond, Andrew started pouring goat's blood into a circle around the candle.

"The blood of the beast lies consecrated before thee," Willow kept going, "Bring forth their half-lives. Hear our plea."

Darkana used her shadow manipulation power to call forth some shadow demons. While everyone else was occupied with that, Darkana grabbed Dawn and held her over the edge of the roof.

Connor slew (weird word, isn't it?) his demon and caught sight of Darkana and Dawn. "Let her go!"

Darkana scoffed. "Very poor choice of words." She let go of her arm and Dawn started falling down the side of the building.

Connor jumped over the edge and grabbed her with one arm with holding onto a stone awning with the other.

Dawn was breathing heavily [whereas, Connor was breathing at all]. "That was a close one."

Just then, both of them felt themselves fall another inch. They looked up to see that their weight was making the stone of the awning break. "Uh oh." Connor lost hold of it and they both fell again. Luckily, they landed on a car.

Everyone heard the alarm go off and looked down the edge of the roof to see Connor and Dawn lying on top of the car.

"Are you OK?" Connor asked Dawn. He reached out to touch her womb, but she grabbed his wrist first.

"I'm fine, Connor," Dawn said, "You need to go help the others."

"Allow them to rise!" Willow commanded, "Awaken them! ARISE!" The candle's flame grew brighter and then burnt out.

Connor got off the car and then felt a splitting headache come up. He was practically screaming in pain as he fell to the ground.

Dawn got up and knelt down beside him. "It's OK. It's Willow's spell. Just give it 15 more seconds." She turned to see her Ghosts were all under the same conditions. "Oh, boy."

Angela felt her link to the Gales decreasing before ebbing (another weird word) away entirely.

Darkana smiled. "I told you that you couldn't face us."

"10…" Dawn started counting down.

"I'm twice as strong as all of you put together," Darkana kept going as Willow and Andrew came up, "There's no way you could defeat me no matter what you did, let alone all six of us…even if Fame was decapitated."

"5…4…3…2…1…"

Connor stopped screaming and put his hand on his chest. He could feel his heart beating.

"Face it," Darkana said, "You lost, we won, no need to go on."

"Beg to differ." Someone kicked her from behind and knocked her down. It was Cordelia! "Remember me?"

"Cordy?" Angel asked.

Cordelia looked up at him and smiled. "Angel!" She ran over and hugged him. She then noticed Angela. "Angela!" The two girls hugged as well. "So what'd Fred and Wesley and I miss in the two years we were gone?"

"Not much," said Angela.

"But Doyle missed a lot," said Angel.

"And so did Tara," said Willow, catching sight of her old girlfriend and running to hug her.

"But Anya," Xander said, wrapping his arm around his ex-girlfriend, "you're pretty much in the middle."

Anya smiled. "I can tell."

Darkana was about to get up, but Connor came up behind her, pulled her down, and let her fall to the ground, knocking her unconscious. "Now, we're even." He got up onto the roof.

Dawn came in through the door Andrew and Willow had gone through. "I took the long way." She went over to Connor. "So we took care of Darkana?"

"She's out for now at least," said Connor.

Buffy held her sister tight. "You had me worried there for a second. Are you OK? Is the baby—"

"We're both fine, Buffy," Dawn said.

Darkana opened her eyes. She hadn't been unconscious at all! "Interesting…" She took out the phone she'd used to call Melody a few nights before. "Girls, you're not gonna believe this."

"So…it's only been the three days, right?" asked Connor.

"Right," Dawn said as though he were pestering her, "Should just be eight or nine months now."

_Later…_

"Has it been eight or nine months yet?" Connor said as he lay sprawled on the couch.

"Close," Angela said, her legs draped over the armrest of the recliner she was in, "Three hours." She got up. "I'm sure we can handle this. It shouldn't be too hard to take care of a pregnant 19-year-old." She then realized what she'd said. "I can't believe I just said that." She shrugged. "At least we don't have to worry about her seeing Ghosts now that her messengers have been brought back as half-Ghosts."

"Actually," Fred said, "I'm half-Ghost, half-god…half-me." She transformed into Illyria. "She speaks truth. I still live within her."

"OK, has either one of you ever had a kid before?" asked Connor, desperately.

"It can't be that bad," Faith said. Connor pointed to the door that led to Dawn's room. Faith went over, peeked through the door, and saw Dawn lying on her bed, surrounded by a dozen books. Faith looked at the cover of the book Dawn was reading: _Pregnancy for Dimwits._ Faith came back to the group. "I guess it is that bad."


	8. Highlights

Chapter 8: Highlights

_One month later (July)…_

STP:

End of month one. Everything is crazy around here. I don't know if I can handle a kid in this town or even this country. Connor, Angel, Angela, Buffy, and Spike are always patrolling with Kennedy and the other little Slayers. Whenever they're not patrolling, _everyone_ is training the ex-Potentials. But what I'm worried about is the fact that I'm actually going through the weird cravings and dumb mood swings so that everyone keeps complaining. But that's what a diary's for: to complain back! I don't think I can take much more of this. On the bright side, there hasn't been any sign of Darkana or any of the Gales since that night we brought back Connor and the others. And Harmony hasn't shown up at all (I'm not certain if that's good or bad).

The Gales:

"We can do this, girls," Darkana told the other Gales, "So what if the Seer's pregnant with the Vampires' child's kid? When the girl/boy is born, it's just going to be another weakling baby. We eat babies!"

"Yeah, but none of them will ever let us get within 100 yards of that kid," Cassie objected, "And all of them are really strong. The Vampires' child decapitated Fame! And they have an army or two of Slayers-in-training on their hands. By the time we could even touch the kid, it'd be as old as its parents are now and strong enough to slay us all!"

"How do we know it's not human?" asked Melody, "They don't even know that. Trust me, girls, we'll kill them all."

_August…_

STP:

End of month two. I can't wait for this to be over! I'm not saying I don't enjoy being pregnant…actually, I don't enjoy being pregnant. But I look forward to having the kid. Although, I think I heard the others (mainly Gunn and Spike) say the other day that they're afraid of what the kid might be. Angela did vouch for me, saying that she would have sensed if the kid were dangerous when she was linked to Famina's old powers. But I'm starting to think they might be right. I have been sensing power inside me.

P.S. Whoever named 'Morning Sickness' was a big, fat dummy! And/or a tremendous liar.

Dawn closed her diary and put it in her drawer. She still remembered the first time she'd gone through the morning sickness phase. Connor had been complaining, too, about how that couldn't be what she had because it had been going on all night. This was getting pretty bad.

The Gales:

"Come on," said Darkana, "There's gotta be something we can do about the kid."

"Well, let me check the list." Tameeka took out a piece of paper. "'Number 1: Kill it. Number 2'…That's it."

_September…_

STP:

End of month three. I was afraid of this. Angela and Evelyn said they've both been having dreams that the Gales are plotting to kill my baby! I CAN'T STAND THE TORTURE! Either the Gales come out and show themselves so we can kill them and be done with it or let me have the kid and hide it like Angel says he did with Connor and then let the fight begin! Until that day comes, THIS IS WAR!

Dawn angrily shut her book. She couldn't stand the Gales. How dare they try and hurt her baby! She looked down at her womb [which was already stating to grow] and began to cry.

The Gales:

"OK, let's see what we know about the kid," said Isabella, "Through Fame's powers, we've deduced that it is powerful which means that there's a possibility that it may not be human. We know it's not due for five or six more months which gives us plenty of time to figure out what to do with it. And most importantly, we know that the Slayer Trainers don't know anything about it either."

"We've got a problem," Darkana said.

_October…_

STP:

End of month four. Things are calming down a little. Not with me, I still have five more months! However, Gunn and Spike seemed to have deduced that I would be bigger by now if the kid were dangerous. And Angela and Evelyn haven't been having strange dreams for a while. In fact, our link to the DreamScape did tell us that their dreams were true, but it also told us that the Gales were still drawing blanks on how to get rid of the kid! But Willow and Buffy, however…they're not doing so hot. Buffy is still struggling and toiling and…struggling on what to do about Angel and Spike. And Willow seems to be having some problems with Tara and Kennedy lately. Luckily, Wesley and Fred are officially boyfriend-girlfriend (yay!) and Cordelia and Doyle seemed to be "working things out" (hint, hint, wink, wink) and Xander and Anya are…well, they're making out just like old times, which must be a good sign.

P.S. NEVER LISTEN TO ANDREW AGAIN!

Andrew had told her that his sister had used "an old wives' tale" to help her get through the pregnancy easier, but it turns out that he didn't even have a sister and he had given Dawn some juice that was supposed to trigger the morning sickness to get back at her for eating his hot pockets.

The Gales:

"Alright, we still don't know what to do about the kid," said Darkana, "The Seer's halfway through the pregnancy. What do we do?"

"Hey, maybe we could use something from the dad's past to get back at him for killing Fame!" suggested Isabella.

"Good idea!" Cassie commented, "Maybe Fame's death didn't make you such an airhead after all."

_November…_

STP:

End of month five. I'm so excited I just can't wait any longer! Connor and I are going to have a kid in a few months! OK, Dawn, calm down, get a hold of yourself. Anyway, Buffy still can't make a decision. I had told her months ago to just follow her heart, but according to her this morning, she's in love with both of them! And Xander's comment about Connor a few months back still stands to reason. She doesn't know what to do. And Angela and Evelyn have been receiving vague dreams that seem to point toward the Gales but we can't figure it out. I personally think it has something to do with Connor. Connor personally thinks that it may have something to do with them still not knowing what to do about the kid. Anya personally thinks that we shouldn't think so personally so often or else we could start fighting. Anyway, Spike and Angel were still fighting but Angela finally pulled them aside one day and said, and I quote, "Who Buffy chooses is her decision. Fighting over who gets her yourself is just going to get you two killed when the Gales come back and you both try to protect Buffy, so STOP FIGHTING ALREADY!" She's really strict. But it got Angel and Spike to calm down (although I think they may be fighting in private occasionally now).

The Gales:

"I got it!" Tameeka cried as soon as she'd tapped out something from Connor's old past. It was really hard to get through the concealment of his fake memories without the original bearer of the power, but she had gotten something. "He was born only five years ago today, but he was taken to a hell dimension and raised there. He came back only a couple weeks later as a fully grown teenager."

"So we could send the kid through a portal to one of the various hell dimensions," said Cassie, "and then I can make sure the portal doesn't reopen."

"Perfect," said Darkana, "Hello suffering of the Seer, goodbye kid who's gonna be a pain in our necks if we don't get rid of him/her."

"So which hell dimension do we send it to?" asked Isabella.

Tameeka stopped smiling. "I'll keep looking."

_December…_

STP:

End of month six. Man, it's cold! We went patrolling a couple nights ago as a group. I was wrapped head to toe in two parkas, three sweaters, a pullover hat, four scarves, snow boots, and tights and I still froze! I hope the kid won't have to go through this (he or she probably will but I hope we move out of the country by then or something)! Anyway, Giles and Wesley have been researching past Seers to see what their kids were like and then compiling that together with the odds of what Connor's kid would be like. Guess what? No Seer has ever had kids before! I'M THE FIRST ONE! This is amazing and slightly disturbing at the same time! Angela and Evelyn haven't been having any strange dreams the past few nights, but Willow went onto the DreamScape and found out that someone cast a spell to keep them from getting dreams to inform them of what's going on with the Gales. This has Cassie written all over it! I can't wait until we have the kid and this may all blow over.

Buffy had been keeping Andrew away from Dawn so that he couldn't pull another prank on her, but she was so focused on protecting her sister and the kid that she almost forgot about Angel and Spike. Spike didn't seem to notice, though, because he and Gunn had started freaking out again as soon as they heard about Dawn being the first Seer to have a kid. Angel was more concerned about Connor being concerned about the kid. And after Willow's discovery, everyone had started to worry about what the Gales were up to.

The Gales:

"I think I see the name of the hell the Vampires' child was sent to," said Tameeka, "Something like…Quarantine or something."

"Quor'Toth?" asked Cassie, looking up from the book she was flipping through.

"That's it!"

"We can't send the kid there! If the portal's already been opened twice, another would completely destroy the entire universe!"

"So?" asked Darkana.

"We're _in_ the universe."

Darkana thought about that. "Keep looking."

_January…_

STP:

End of month seven. ALMOST THERE! ONE OR TWO MORE MONTHS! Willow, Angela, and Evelyn still can't get anything on the Gales, but the pressure in the DreamScape has been calming down which means the concealment of the spell isn't as important as before. But considering the fact that the spell is still up at all, I'd say it's pretty important! Angel and Connor have been helping Giles and Wesley gather up any info they can, but the only thing they can come up with that could help is to see the shamans like Darla had done when she was pregnant with Connor. Considering the fact that they had all given her the same answer and none of those answers really had anything to do with him anyway, I'd say that wouldn't help. I think we're about to stoop to the last resort.

Dawn was right. Giles, Wesley, Angel, and Connor were about ready to give up the research thing and just move on…and try the same thing that they had done with Darla.

The Gales:

"So, Cass," said Melody, "How's it coming with the hell dimension plan?"

"I've narrowed it down to three," said Cassie, "Another month and the kid is just about due, giving us just enough time to figure out what to do and prepare for it. We may have said the Seer was going to die, but I think _this_ is a much better plan."

_February…_

STP:

End of month eight. IT'S ABOUT TIME! A few more weeks and it's time for the baby to come. Andrew backed off. Angel and Spike gave Buffy some space. Willow, Angela, and Evelyn still don't know what the spell on the DreamScape is concealing. AND CONNOR TOLD ME HE LOVES ME! Yeah, I know what you're thinking: she's been pregnant with his kid for 8 months and he's just now saying he loves her? Well, allow me to translate: Connor told me he loves me…IN HIS WEDDING VOWS! We're husband and wife! …OK, technically, we already were, but now it's official and legal! GAH! I can't wait any longer! Come on, kid, get out! Inquiring and/or loving people wanna see you!

The Gales:

"I've got it!" said Cassie, "I know which hell we can send the kid to!"

"And I have a plan," said Darkana, "I know this goes against our standards, but I think we can send an entire hoard of armies after them so that we can prepare for the big spell…"

But it wasn't until the next week…that this story got really interesting.


	9. Trapped

Chapter 9: Trapped

The whole group walked down a street, Connor helping Dawn stand up straight.

"We'll just walk to the hospital," Angel said, "find an empty room, and load the ultrasound machine. It worked with Connor while he was in Darla, it should work now."

They group stopped walking when they caught sight of a sign: "Hospital this way. "

"That wasn't there before," Giles commented.

Angela just shrugged and led them into the empty building. They found the room they were looking for, loaded in…and realized something. "This is a rather large mop closet. What are we doing in a rather large mop closet?"

Isabella appeared behind them on the other side of the door. "Coyote-roadrunner trick. Can't believe you fell for it. HA!" She closed and locked the door. She turned to face the other Gales. "Told you that would work!" She led them off.

Dawn groaned. "I don't feel so good, guys."

"Well, maybe you ate too much," said Doyle.

"Doyle, pregnant?" Fred reminded him.

"Maybe the baby ate too much," Doyle corrected himself.

"When you're eating for two, it's kind of hard to tell," said Dawn.

"Which explains why you ate all my hot pockets," Andrew said.

"It was five months ago, let it go!" Buffy practically yelled.

"OK…" Angela considered what to do. "I got it! On the count of 3, we all ram the door down! And just to clear things up, I mean '1, 2, 3!' not '1, 2, 3, GO!'" Everyone except Dawn nodded and prepared to ram the door. "1…2…3!" They jolted the door…and bounced back in a large bundle of sore bodies. "Reinforced steel. Who puts a reinforced steel door on a mop closet?"

"Uh, we have bigger problems," said Dawn, "I think my water broke!"

Buffy gasped.

"I'm sure we can get it fixed when we get out of here!" said Doyle.

"She means the baby's coming!" Tara corrected.

Doyle went into Ghost form to retreat.

"DOYLE!" Cordelia scolded him.

"OK…" Xander started panicking, "Do any of the girls know what to do here?"

"Certainly not me," said Cordelia, "Only time I ever gave birth was through magic and it put me in a coma."

"Well, I saw one of those medical shows," said Angela. Everyone looked at her. "You don't get very good cable in Mexico."

"I know, I've been there," said Andrew.

"OK, I think we need boiling water, a towel, twine, and some scissors," Angela explained.

"Let me check the mop closet gift shop," Xander said. He turned to the towel shelf. "Oh, look." He turned back to the group. "THERE ISN'T ONE!"

"I could do without the sarcasm right now, Xander!" Dawn groaned.

"OK, relax," said Angela, "Deep breaths. Like this." She showed Dawn what to do and Dawn seemed to relax. But Angela wasn't used to breathing so hard [or at all, really] so she hyperventilated and banged her head on the wall.

"Please, one of you on the floor is enough." Spike helped Angela up. "What can I do?"

"Catch the baby when it comes out."

Spike dropped her. "_SO_ not happening!"

They started to argue and finally the door opened to reveal Doyle on the other side. They stopped arguing and turned to him. "Can I just say one thing? SHE LEFT THE KEYS IN THE DOOR!"

"Just get out!" Willow yelled, leading them out.

Connor helped Dawn into the hallway, but Dawn practically collapsed. Connor had to stay behind and help her while the rest of them kept going.

Halfway down the street Buffy stopped running. Everyone else stopped, too.

"What is it, Buff?" asked Xander.

"Where are Dawn and Connor?" Buffy asked.

Angel and Angela looked around. Dawn and Connor weren't there! The group ran back. When they got there, everyone except the Vampires was out of breath and had to rest for a couple minutes. By the time they got back to the hall they'd left the two kids in…Connor and Dawn already had the kid in their arms (really fast, huh?).

Buffy smiled and went over to them. "So this is Angel's grandchild. Doesn't look so ferocious."

Evelyn was practically jumping with excitement. "Is it a boy or a girl? Is it a boy or girl? I gotta know! I GOTTA KNOW!"

"We can check as soon as we know the Gales aren't nearby," said Angela.

"Uh, Angela?" Angel tried to get her attention.

"We need to make sure they can't get the kid."

"Angela?!"

"And for another thing while I'm at it—"

"ANGELA!" Angel, Spike, and Buffy all shouted.

"We're surrounded by Vampires!" Angel said.

Angela scoffed. "I would have sensed if—" Angela turned to see that she had gotten so caught up in the conversation that she had forgotten to check her Vampire detector. "Oh. We _are_ surrounded by Vampires."

One of the Vampires jumped at them, but Willow put up a barrier before he could get close. She didn't suspect that this would allow the other Vampires to get to the rest of the group.

Connor got out a stake and dusted two of the Vamps in one move. Faith and Buffy started moving to protect Dawn, who was clutching the baby to her chest. Angel and Angela and Spike starting kicking and punching them back to allow Wesley and Giles and Doyle to stake them. Andrew kept Evelyn at the side while Kennedy and Tara moved to protect Willow so that she could expand the barrier. Cordelia, Gunn, Anya, Xander, and Fred/Illyria just kept fighting.

Finally, Buffy staked the final Vamp and the place was cleared. "That was a close one."

"Sure got my blood pumping," said Dawn, "If I hadn't already had the kid, that sure would have put me into labor."

"Hey," Xander suggested, "if it's a girl, you could name her Sunshine and then all the Vamps will be scared of her."

"Whoa, I'm not naming my kid that!" Dawn objected.

"Well, face it, Dawnie," Faith said, "It'd be easier to name the kid if we knew what it was."

"Let me just check," Connor said.

"We don't have time for that!" Angela yelled, waving her arms at him like Kermit the Frog.

"Don't worry," Cordelia said, "We'll find out as soon as we get to the actual hospital."

"Right," Dawn said, "Wait, what?"

"Well, you've gotta get the shots and everything and…" Cordelia leaned in. "Are you going to circumcise?"

Dawn gave her a look. The kid started crying.

"Uh, I think it heard you," said Spike.

"You know, I'm not very comfortable with you guys calling my kid an 'it'," Dawn said.

"Well, what are we going to call it then?" asked Anya as they left the building, "Him/her?"

Dawn considered that. "Good point." She shrugged. "Then again, it's better then 'nibblet' and 'midget'."

_The next night…_

Fred set up a white board in the meeting room. It had two lists of names on it.

"We worked with this for about an hour like we did with Connor," Wesley said, "The first list is people and creatures we know pose a threat to Dawn and Connor's child, the second list is the ones we think may become a threat should they find out about it."

"'It'?" Faith asked, "You mean we still don't know if it's a boy or girl?"

"A lot of stuff has come up," Dawn said, holding the kid in her arms. They had kept getting attacked and had never gotten a chance to check.

"Well, I know a spell that may wipe these guys memories," Willow suggested, "We could keep it a secret that it's a Seer's child and the child of a Vampires' child who isn't even supposed to exist and then no one would know."

"So we don't need the board?" asked Fred, starting to erase it.

"Actually, I doubt it would work on the ones in the second list and…well, it's pretty much all downhill from there."

Fred put down the eraser and then rewrote the first one on the first list: The Gales.

Meanwhile, Darkana was ranting at Cassie. "How long does it take to work around a spell like this?"

"Another month," Cassie answered, "I can't do this spell immediately. Luckily, the Slayer Trainers should be distracted by trying to protect the kid from the hoards of armies we sent after them."


	10. Summer in February

Chapter 10: Summer in February

"So let me get this straight," Angel told Dawn, "It doesn't bother you that five years ago Cordy and I were changing his diapers?"

"Does it bother him that seven years ago I was a great, big, glowing green ball of universe-destroying energy?"

Angel thought about that. "Good point."

Faith was peeking out the window. "Uh, I think that's the least of our worries." She pulled the blinds up to reveal the armies of demons and Vampires headed for them.

"And I thought it was bad when Connor was born," said Angel, "Who knew the child of a Seer and a Vampires' child was bigger than the Vampires' child itself?"

"I did," said Wesley, "as soon as Giles and I found out that no Seer had ever had a kid before. It's like the fact that only one Slayer ever had a kid. Anyway, there's way too many for us to handle." He showed Fred that they had to move two of the enemies from the second list to the first.

"Then I think it's time for a new plan," said Buffy, "Connor, Dawn, be prepared to make a run for it. Everyone else…round up the Slayers."

While everyone else was getting the Slayers ready for battle, Angel was talking to Connor and Dawn was talking with Buffy.

"Buffy," Dawn said, "are you sure this plan is going to work?"

"Positive," Buffy answered, "Angel has things worked out. The Slayers will get rid of all the Vampires and as many demons as we can. You and Connor are going to take the kid and run and if the demons are following you, lose them and double back. It's as simple as that."

Dawn nodded. "OK. What about what Cordelia said?"

"We can get the kid to the hospital as soon as this fight clears up."

All the Slayers were gathered together in the lobby with the rest of the group.

"Now, Mercy," Doyle told one of the Slayers, "despite your name, show 'em no mercy!"

"Bunny," Anya told one of the Slayers, "be just like your namesake, ferocious and vicious and bloodthirsty and frightening and mean!" The 10-year-old girl gave her a look. "Just remember your training."

"Alys," said Kennedy, "We've worked long and hard for this. We can do it. Just…do your best."

"OK, Gabrielle and Genevieve," said Xander, "The first ever twin Slayers. You're French, you can get through this!" The two blonde girls looked at each other and shrugged. Anya then pulled Xander aside to talk to him.

"Collie…" Spike said. He searched for words. "…Lassie was a collie."

"'Was'?" the 7-year-old asked, panicking.

"Now what I meant was—" Spike started.

"GUYS!" Faith called out, stopping everyone's conversations.

Buffy came over. "Thank you, Faith, I was worried I wasn't gonna be able to shut 'em up." She turned back to the group. "OK, Angel and I have everything planned. You girls are going to take out the Vamps by yourselves so we can handle the demons. As soon as the doors open, Willow will let down our barriers and the battle will begin, allowing Connor and Dawn to sneak out the back and run. Anyone who objects to this plan, please speak now." Everyone started talking at the same time. "ONE AT A TIME!" Everyone stopped. No one was talking. Angela shrugged. "Alright then, let the battle begin."

Willow's eyes turned black as she started chanting. "…now would be good…"

Faith and Buffy opened the doors and Willow's barrier spell flickered off. While the battle started, Connor and Dawn sneaked out the back hallway and got in Giles' car [since he wouldn't use it] and left.

"Are you sure you know how to drive?" Dawn asked Connor.

"Relax, my fake dad showed me how," Connor said.

Dawn turned to look out the back. There was, indeed, half the army of demons following them. "Oh, this plan better work."

"Don't worry, we'll get through this," Connor said, "The Vampire/demon gangs, that's the easy part." He sighed. "Then again, now I know how Dad felt with me." He noticed an abandoned mine and made sure the bad guys behind them weren't too close before pulling over.

"What are you doing?" asked Dawn, "I thought we were supposed to lose 'em and run back."

"And we will," Connor explained, getting out, "We just won't take the car with us. It'll throw 'em off completely."

"OK." Dawn got out.

Meanwhile, Buffy, Faith, Angel…and the others got out of the fight.

"I don't feel very comfortable leaving the Slayers to fight by themselves," said Xander.

"We said they were going to fight the Vamps themselves," said Buffy, "They got the warning. They're ready."

Tara came out from behind a tree, carrying something wrapped in a blanket and led them over to Willow, Buffy, and Angel's cars to drive off.

Meanwhile (again), Connor and Dawn came to a shaft in the mine that would lead them back to solid ground. But before they could leave, the demons and Vampires swarmed in.

"Could be worse," said Connor, "At least the kid's not crying." Dawn gave him a look and handed him the bundle in the blanket, knowing that he could protect the kid better.

"Give us the baby!" cried one of the demons.

"You want the baby?" Connor asked, "You can have it!" He threw it at them and pulled Dawn up before she could run to get it back. Connor pulled her back into the car. "I think we're safe."

Dawn slapped him. "What were you thinking?! Just giving away the kid like that? Who knows—"

"DAWN!"

"WHAT?!"

"3…2…1…"

The mine exploded.

"We replaced the kid with a bomb," Connor explained, "The others have it at the hospital. The Slayers are fighting the other Vamps. It was Dad's idea, it was exactly what he did with me."

"OK…alright…is the room spinning?"

"I think we need to get you to the hospital." Connor sped off.

The others were the only ones in the waiting room at the hospital.

A nurse walked in with the baby and Buffy stood up. "I'm happy to report you have a healthy baby girl."

"So it _is_ a girl," Willow said.

Buffy smiled. "Thanks, but my sister's the mother…she's kind of busy at the moment."

"I see," said the nurse, handing her the kid, "Well, we gave her all the shots and she's doing very well." She looked at her clipboard. "And we seem to have everything in order, the height and weight seem to be average, but…what's her name?"

"Summer." Connor came in, Dawn closely behind. "Her name's Summer."

"Alright then, Mr.…" the nurse looked at the clipboard again. "…Summers. Congratulations."

Connor took the kid. "Mr. Summers?"

"Well, face it, you don't have a last name," said Cordelia. Connor shrugged.

"Uh, Connor, I just realized something," Dawn said.

"What?"

"Summer Summers?"

Connor then realized that she was right.

"We'll make it work," said Angela.

"And if it helps," said Anya, "It's a nice name. By any chance, did you happen to consider going with An—"

"NO!" everyone else said.

"Just checking." Anya looked at Xander. "Perhaps now isn't a good time to tell you—"

"Let me guess," Angela said, "You figured out that the Gales sent half those guys after us."

"No."

"What?!" Dawn said.

"We'll take care of them, I promise," said Angela, "So what is it, Anya?"

Anya looked at Xander again. "I've been pregnant for six months now and didn't figure it out ahead of time because of all the excitement over Dawn and Connor." Everyone looked at her. "I know it shocked me, too."

"I wonder if her kid is going to be as exciting as ours," Connor said.

"Half-Ghost, maybe part-demon, kid?" Angela asked, "Doesn't sound as important."

"And not to be negative or anything, but…we're OK, right?" asked Willow, "No one's coming after Summer?"

"As long as the Slayers have handled the Vamps back at the building," Angel said, "everyone's taken care of except the Gales."

"And we can get ready to handle them anytime," said Angela.

"Then now is time for celebrating!" Fred said.

They all left.


	11. Open the Gates

Chapter 11: Open the Gates

_One month later…_

Dawn and Connor were in the meeting room together, taking turns holding Summer.

Angel, Angela, Buffy, Andrew, Evelyn, Spike, Wesley, Giles, Gunn, Fred, Tara, Cordelia…pretty much everyone else except Willow was reading at the table.

Willow walked into the room, holding a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. "March 2007. Dawn and Connor's baby is doing very well and showing no hint of anything demon-ish. Buffy still hasn't decided between Angel and Spike. Wesley and Giles seem to be becoming friends. Anya is due to have her kid in another month and Xander is freaking out about it. Did I miss anything?"

"Wesley and Fred are married and Cordelia and Doyle may be getting close?" Dawn added.

"'May be getting close'?" Cordelia asked, "We have been for two months now!"

Dawn looked at her. "Where were we?!"

Fred just smiled. "There really hasn't seemed to be any sign of horns or a tail in Summer, but that doesn't mean she's not part demon." She turned into Illyria. "She speaks truth once more. The child's very presence chills me."

"What would you know?" Connor asked, "You used to be evil."

Illyria turned back into Fred. "He's got a point." She sighed. "I wonder what the Gales are up to right now."

_Meanwhile…_

Darkana went over to Cassie. "Is everything prepared?"

"Just about," Cassie said, "As soon as the sun sets, that kid is headed to hell."

_Back at the building…_

Dawn and Buffy were rocking Summer back and forth in a cradle.

Andrew came up to them. "You know, no offense, Dawn, but I don't think your kid likes me."

"Wonder if has anything to do with the fact that you poisoned Dawn while she was pregnant," Buffy said (Yeah, she still hadn't let that go).

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Come on, Andrew, it can't be that bad. I can prove it. First, Buffy and I get her laughing…" Buffy started tickling the baby while Dawn was making goofy faces at her. Summer started laughing. "And now…" Dawn pulled Andrew over and showed him to Summer, smiling. As soon as Summer saw his face, she stopped laughing. Dawn stopped smiling and pushed Andrew back. Summer started laughing again. Pull, stop. Push, start. The cycle repeated itself four more times before Dawn finally gave up. "Huh, I guess she doesn't like you."

Andrew sighed and then thought of something. "Hey, Angela?" Angela looked up at him. "Do we still have that pie I made the other day that everyone didn't like?"

"Yeah, it's in the fridge," Angela said, gesturing to the fridge across the room.

While Dawn picked up Summer, Andrew walked over to the fridge, took out the pie, went back to Summer…and hit himself in the face with it. Summer started laughing. "Victory!"

Willow smiled as she typed away on her laptop. "Well, I'm not picking up anything strange or weird…hey, that's weird."

"What?" Angela went over to her. Everyone else crowded around her, too.

"Well, I tapped into one of these satellite picture things and there's apparently five people living in this abandoned building which has been empty for years! And get this: none of them are exhibiting natural human characteristics, like how a Vampire isn't normal body temperature, just room temperature."

"Then it looks like we found them," said Angela, "Let's get going."

The group came to the building. The catch: it was an old, abandoned hotel.

"Huh, talk about déjà vu," said Angel.

"Alright, we'll split up, it'll cover more ground," said Buffy.

Dawn and Connor searched one floor, Connor holding Summer as protection.

"I don't like this," said Dawn, "Every time in the movies and the books when the group splits up…something bad happens."

"Well, we can handle this," Connor said, "It's about a half hour after sunset, the Gales should be out. You go down that hall, I'll go this way." Dawn backed away, reluctantly. Connor gestured to her to keep going and she left, taking one last peek at him and the baby before turning a corner. "This ought to be fun."

"I'll say." Melody came up behind him and pulled him off. (NOT AGAIN!)

After 10 or 15 more minutes, the group met outside.

"Nothing and no one," Willow said. Everyone else shook their heads.

Dawn then realized something. "Where are Connor and Summer?"

Cordelia looked down the street and noticed something…Tameeka down the street, waving at her as she faded into Ghost form. "Guys…" She turned into Ghost form as well. Doyle, Tara, Anya, and Wesley followed and now saw Tameeka. Fred refused to change into Ghost form because of a complicated process of Illyria being part of her. Anyway, they chased after her.

Dawn led the rest of the group after them.

As soon as they turned a corner, they saw the other Gales with Connor and Summer and ran faster.

As soon as Cassie ran out of breath, the Gales stopped running. Darkana took Summer from Connor and Isabella used her strength to keep him from grabbing her back.

As soon as the others came within five yards, Darkana pulled up a ball of shadow through her powers and Isabella held a stake up to Connor. "One step closer—"

"I know," Dawn said.

"What do you have against Summer?" asked Angela.

"Simple," Darkana explained, her ball of shadow disappearing, "She has power, she could kill us, we want her dead. Plus, her father is the one who decapitated Fame and we want him to suffer." She turned to Cassie, but Cassie was too busy flipping through pages of a book and mumbling something in Latin. "Which is…why…we…wanted…to…" Darkana stomped her foot and Cassie jumped slightly. "Cassie, would you hurry it up?!"

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can!" Cassie argued, "It takes a while to get these things set up right!"

"I thought that's what we'd been doing all month!"

"Well, yeah, but there's a lot of last minute prep things you gotta do."

"Couldn't you have been doing that while we were getting the kid?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time, why don't you do all the magic and I'll sit around coming up with evil plans THAT ULTIMATELY FAIL!"

Everyone stared at her. They were all silent for about 20 seconds before Darkana finally spoke up:

"Wow, cut me deep there."

"Look, if you kill them, you'll have to deal with all our Slayers," Angela said, "who, by the way, took out the entire army of Vampires you sent after us by themselves."

"So we kill the kid, you kill us, everybody wins," Darkana said.

"If you were really gonna kill Summer and Connor, you would have done it already," said Faith, "You want the kid alive. Something we all have in common."

Darkana smiled. "So you figured that part out."

Cassie finally got what she was looking for. "Patefacio porta of abyssus!"

A portal appeared and a strike of lightning knocked back Andrew, Faith, and Buffy. Angel and Spike both moved to help Buffy and Evelyn helped up Andrew and Faith.

Dawn turned to Willow. "What did she say?"

"'Open the gates of Hell,'" Willow answered.

"OK," Darkana said, "either the kid goes in or we all die. Any votes?"

"First one to touch that kid gets their head cut off!" Angel said.

Isabella shrugged. "Well, I got nothing to lose." She grabbed Summer and threw her through the portal.

Connor Vamped out, knocked over Isabella and Melody, and jumped at the portal…but he went right through it. Another bolt of lightning struck and the portal disappeared.

Darkana turned to Isabella. "I thought we agreed that Cass and I were gonna get rid of the kid!"

"Hey, the Seer and the Vampires' child are gonna suffer either way," Isabella said, walking off.

Darkana shrugged. "Point taken." She and the other Gales followed.

Dawn and Connor looked at each other. Dawn started crying and Connor wouldn't move an inch from the spot where he was lying. She was gone.


	12. The Search

Chapter 12: The Search

The group was in the lobby that night while all the little Slayers were sleeping. They were all sitting around in stunned silence and grief.

Suddenly, Fred snapped, dropping her books on the floor. "NO! I _don't_ believe it!"

"Well, believe it," Willow said, "The Gales have sent our little niece to some random hell dimension."

"No…not like that, not a portal," Fred ranted, "There's noise a-and there's pulling and…the-there's nothing to hold on to and…" Fred started crying and sat down. Wesley grasped her hand. "She must have been so scared."

"I know," Wesley said.

"Alright, this is beginning to make less and less sense," Xander said, "If they wanted Summer dead, why didn't they just kill her instead of sending her to a hell dimension like that?"

"Because they want Connor to suffer for killing Famina," Angel answered, "And Connor was sent to a hell dimension when he was only a few months older than Summer."

"Yeah, but if the portal to Quor'Toth were reopened, it would destroy the whole universe," Cordelia said, "So we know it wasn't that one. Which means we have no clue on what dimension it might be that they sent her to."

"Well, when we get our hands on the Gales and strangle 'em, then we'll know," Angela said.

Connor got up from his chair. "Look, all I care about now is getting my daughter back and then we'll deal with those responsible."

"Trust me," Dawn said, her eyes going white again as the flames appeared in her hands, "they'll all pay. At least if I have anything to say about it."

Buffy turned to Willow. "Will, start researching on opening portals…preferably ones that _don't_ shift the space-time continuum. Giles, Wesley, find info on as many hell dimensions as you can. Everyone else, get ready, 'cause we're going straight through a portal into a war zone tomorrow. And if I have anything to say about it, we're getting my niece back."

_Meanwhile…_

The Gales gathered together in their "lair" [if you could call it that].

Darkana plopped down on a chair. "So we're positive the kid's not coming back?"

"Absolutely," said Cassie, "As long as I'm alive, a spell will be holding up to keep those little Slay-runts and their buddies from opening that portal in any way."

"And if they try?" asked Melody.

"Oh, they can try," Cassie corrected, "I can't really get anything on keeping them from attempts at opening the portal. Of course, since they don't know which hell dimension we sent the brat to they'd probably be destroyed testing all the ones that come before that."

"So chalk one up for the bad girls," said Isabella, "But what if the kid comes back on her own?"

"Well, quite frankly, she can't," said Cassie, "But on the off off _off_ chance that she does, we'll find her and kill her."

_Back at the building…_

Willow slammed her book down. "There's nothing in here about opening these portals. We could try the spell Cassie did and then do it again from the other side, too, but if it took them a month to get it set up, there's no way."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Dawn said, "And I will that we find a way to break my daughter out!"

"What about the files, Andrew?" Buffy asked.

"I can't find anything in here to reference any book or website or anything to help us fight the Gales," Andrew said.

"Website!" Willow exclaimed, grabbing her laptop, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Angela walked over to Andrew. "Well, try looking under 'time/space shifting entities' and it should tell us where to find dimensional portal spells."

"So…would that be under 'time,' 'space,' 'shifting,' or 'entities'?"

"We better check 'em all." Angela started shuffling through the files with him.

"I got it!" Gunn cried, getting up. He held up the book and put it on the table. "An entire list of all the hell dimensions in our…uh oh."

"What?" Connor asked, going over to him.

"There's 157 of them and I'm not counting Quor'Toth and Wolfram and Hart's holding dimension."

Dawn sighed. "We're never gonna get her back, are we?"

"Didn't stop me when I was looking for Connor," Angel said.

"Yeah," Cordelia said, "but you made a homicidal demon corporeal, practically got Wesley killed, and left a pentagram on the floor of the hotel, which, by the way, gave us a duty of scrubbing the floor every week."

"I was trying to get my son back. It worked."

"Yeah, as soon as the glow-in-the-dark parasites were exterminated from the hotel. And the only reason they came in was because of the spell you cast."

"Uh, guys…" Willow started.

"Hey, you were the one that got 'em out in the first place so how do we know it's not your fault when he came back?" Angel continued.

"Well then, you're welcome!" Cordelia said.

"Guys!" Willow started to shout.

"By the way," Cordelia said, "while we're on the subject, WHAT ON EARTH COULD HAVE DRIVEN YOU TO SLEEP WITH DARLA?!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Angel asked.

"Boy, am I glad we had all the rooms sound-proofed," Faith said.

"HEY!" Faith and Willow both shouted, stopping Angel and Cordelia's fight.

"What is it?" asked Evelyn.

"There was a major shift in the continuum when that portal opened, yes," said Willow, "But it was a 'give-one-take-one' deal."

"What?" Buffy went over to her.

"That doesn't sound good," Tara said.

"There's a major big power source drifting from downtown and I'm thinking it's not a bunch of English Girl Scouts looking to sell cookies," Willow said, "If something this powerful came from the dimension Summer's in, then I'm guessing two things: 1, she's not in Pylea. 2, even if we find the right dimension it's going to be like looking for a penny in a haystack the size of Russia and Australia put together." She closed her laptop and got up. "We don't have the resources to conjure that much dark power. Even I can't do something like this even with Tara's help."

_DING!_ Angela thought of something. "Maybe…but I know someone who does and can."

_Later…_

Angel knocked down the Gales' door and led the group in.

Darkana groaned. "We need to find better hiding places."

"What you need is to tell us where you sent Summer before we decapitate you all," Angela said, walking over to her.

Spike Vamped out and knocked Melody into the wall.

Angela turned to Spike. "I told you to wait till we got to the threats to knock her down!"

"I thought that was a threat!"

"That was a warning, this is a threat." She Vamped out and threw a dagger at Tameeka, but she went into Ghost form just before it could hit her. "Now we intimidate them, you dummy."

Melody sighed and rolled her eyes. "About the kid…let me put it this way." She took out two daggers and threw them at Angela, both of them piercing her gut.


	13. Return

Chapter 13: Return

_An hour later…_

Angela held an ice bag on her head. "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

"Your soulless self was about to arise," Angel said, "What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, next time a sword comes launching at my gut, ask me to duck before kicking me in the back of the head!"

"1: there wasn't any time for you to duck. 2: it was two daggers, not a sword."

"And 3: we didn't get anything to help us get my kid back," Dawn said, "I knew this plan wasn't going to work."

Angela put the ice bag on the table. "We'll find a way to get her back. It's just not going to happen tonight."

"Then when? When we're all dead and the Gales feel it's OK to bring her back because we're not as big a threat? I doubt it."

"If it hurts that much," Willow suggested, "then you need to think about something else. What I'm interested in is what that power surge was that the Gales brought forth when they tossed Summer."

At the city limits, a car was coming into town. Suddenly, a dark energy surrounded the engine and turned the car off.

Inside were a young boy and his two parents. As soon as the engine turned off, the man driving the car started to try to turn it back on, but it wouldn't work.

"What's wrong?" asked the wife/mom.

"I don't know." The husband/dad tried again.

While the two parents were trying to start the car back up, the dark energy creeped in through the windows.

The woman noticed it and started screaming.

Before the three of them could leave the car, the dark energy completely surrounded the entire car. When it disappeared, all three of them had disappeared. The dark energy took the form of a person, but no discerning features could be seen because of the shadow encompassing the person who was laughing maniacally.

_Two weeks later…_

Connor kicked a Vampire in the face…then in the gut…then in the face again—

"You know—" Spike started. Before he could go any further, Connor punched him in the nose. Spike groaned, his memories chasing him back to when the government had that chip in his head (Yeah, it was that bad).

"Sorry, I—"

"Thinking about Summer again?" asked Xander. Connor nodded. "I kind of figured that out when you beat the Vamp to a bloody pulp instead of staking him." He got out a stake and dusted the Vampire. "Why don't we think about something else?"

Anya walked up holding her own child. "While we're on the subject of baby girls…" She walked over to Xander. "I guess we should have figured that she'd come early. There's just one problem: what are we going to name her?"

"It's been…what? Two, three days?" Buffy asked.

"Four," Xander and Anya both said at the same time.

"And you still haven't named her?" Willow asked.

"Well, I'm kind of going for Anya Jr.," Anya said.

"And I was rooting for Alexandra," Xander said.

"Well, why don't you meet in the middle?" suggested Dawn.

"Andra?" asked Anya at the same time Xander said: "Alya?"

Dawn gave both of them a look. "No! Autumn. That way, it still starts with an 'A'."

"Hey, that's a nice name," Anya said.

"Yeah…she's named after a season." Dawn started crying. Buffy held her and shot a look at Xander and Anya.

_She's the one that suggested the name!_ Anya snapped. She sighed and then started talking again: "Why don't we change the subject? I think her ears are getting a little pointy."

"You don't think we gave birth to an Elf, do you?"

"Oh, please. Everyone knows an Elf is a short little Irish guy who wears green and lives at the end of the rainbow and gives you pots of gold—"

"That's a leprechaun! And they don't exist!"

Doyle sighed. "For a second there, I thought she was hinting to me."

Anya shook her head. "I'm going to go put _Autumn_ back at the building and meet you guys at the graveyard in about…10 minutes? OK." She walked off. Xander followed her.

After 10 minutes, the group reunited completely in the nearest graveyard (except for Kennedy who was back at the STP building training the Slayers).

"Alright…" Buffy clapped her hands together. "Is there anything to talk about?"

Dawn rolled her eyes and noticed something. "I think I know."

"What?" Buffy asked, turning to her.

"There's about 50 Vampires coming for us."

Everyone turned and confirmed Dawn's statement.

"Well, this isn't gonna go well," Angel said.

Meanwhile, Darkana was talking to the Gales. "So…the kid is gone, we've got 50 Vamps going after our little Slay-runt friends…this is a cause for celebration. What do you say we go have a killing session downtown?"

Isabella squealed with excitement and skipped out. Melody rolled her eyes and followed. Tameeka shrugged and walked out as well.

"Come on, Cassie, you coming?" Darkana asked.

"I'll be there in a few seconds," Cassie answered.

Darkana sighed and left her alone.

Cassie flipped through a couple of her books and then put them down. She didn't seem to notice the dark figure that had made that family disappear walking through the shadows toward her, picking up a sword from the wall. Cassie looked around the room, sighed, and put her hands on her hips. "I enjoy my life…if you can call it that." Before she could say or do anything else, the dark figure came up behind her and sliced the sword into her neck. She whimpered one last time before it completely chopped her head off.

Dawn held Connor tight. "Connor, no matter what I said, I always kind of liked you!"

"Dawn," Xander said, panicking, "I ate Andrew's last hot pocket and blamed you!"

"What?" Andrew, Dawn, Connor, and Buffy all said at the same time.

One of the Vamps smiled. "This—" Before he could say anymore, he turned to dust, startling Doyle into Ghost form and revealing a girl standing behind him with a stake.

As another Vamp rushed at her, she grabbed his shirt and threw him to the ground, staking him as soon as he fell. Another knocked her down, but she twisted her arm over her shoulder enough to get him in the heart. Another one came up, but she just rolled over onto her back and pierced him in the heart. The other Vamps ran off.

As soon as the girl stood up, Dawn got a good look at her. The girl had bright red hair and light blue eyes (like Molly Quinn). This girl wasn't a Slayer…it was Summer! Dawn fainted.

"Now you know how I felt when Connor came back," Angel said.


	14. Darkness

Chapter 14: Darkness

Dawn pulled herself together. "Summer?"

Summer backed up a step and then turned around completely and ran.

Dawn got up and started to run after her. Connor followed closely behind.

Doyle came out of Ghost form and the others kept going after them.

About halfway down the street, Dawn ran out of breath and had to stop. Angela looked down the alleyway they were now next to in order to see if Summer had gone down it, but all she got was a punch in the face. She stepped back, pinching her nose.

Darkana came out, followed by the three remaining Gales. "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" Angela asked, "You're the one that just punched me in the face!" She turned to her friends. "She has officially lost it!"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"No, I really don't!"

"One of you snuck into our lair and decapitated Cassie!"

"What?" Dawn asked, "We've all been together for…" She turned to Xander and Anya.

"Don't look at us!" Anya defended herself and Xander.

"Yeah, why would we set up a suicide mission of a nerd and a powerless ex-vengeance demon against a Witch about as powerful as Willow?" Xander asked.

"Probably because you knew killing her would bring back the kid," Isabella suggested. Darkana gave her a look. "They didn't know that, did they?"

"No," Buffy said.

"Wait, if you guys really didn't do it," Tameeka reasoned, "who did?"

"Probably that thing you guys released from that hell dimension when you tossed Summer on a 'give-on-take-one' deal!" Willow suggested.

Melody groaned. "Cassie, you ignorant little twit! Doesn't even know what reciprocate means."

"Yeah, how could you not know that?!" Xander said. 3…2…1… "What does it mean?"

Melody and Darkana rolled their eyes and walked off. Tameeka and Isabella followed.

Angel turned around. "Where's Doyle?"

_Meanwhile…_

Summer snuck through the shadows down the street to the health food store, squeezed through the door unnoticed, grabbed a few things, and left. She walked into the basement of a nearby hotel, making sure no one saw her, and then laid out the fruits and stuff she'd grabbed on an empty table. She sighed, turned around…and ran into Doyle. She gasped and stepped back before making contact.

"Hi."

Summer just stared at him.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Summer shook her head.

"So…what's a pretty girl like you doing living in a basement?"

Summer crossed her arms and opened her mouth to speak: "…I…"

"Oh, so you do speak."

Summer smiled. "…I'm…Summer."

Doyle smiled. "Doyle." He sat down on an old couch that the manager of the hotel had left down there and Summer sat down next to him. "So why are you living down here?"

"…I…got in a…fight with…m-my parents." Summer didn't talk much—actually, she didn't talk at all—in the hell she'd been in. It was a whole new plight for her.

"Happens." Doyle got up. "I better get going, I guess."

"Oh…one more thing." Summer got up and stopped him from leaving. "My parents…kind of…live in town and…they don't know I'm living here…so…if you see them…could you please…do me a favor and…not tell them where I am?"

Doyle smiled. "No problem."

_An hour later…_

Doyle dragged Summer through the door to the STP building. "I believe you're looking for this!" he told Dawn and Connor as he came into the lobby.

Summer pulled herself free. "I told you not to tell them where I was!"

"And I didn't, I just brought you to 'em!"

Summer groaned and crossed her arms at him.

Illyria went over to her. "You have power. Your presence chills me the same as when you were an infant."

"Then I guess I'll leave." Summer turned to the door, but Xander and Doyle blocked it. She looked at them and then pushed them aside with such strength and force that they collided with the walls. Luckily, the rooms were sound-proofed, so they didn't wake any of the little Slayers. Summer took the opportunity to walk through the doors, out of the building, and into the dark night.

Dawn chased after her, followed by Connor. "We'll still be looking for you."

"I have no doubt that you will…but you won't find me."

"You can't just leave," Connor objected.

"Watch me." She turned to leave, but Dawn blocked her path.

"Look, we tried to save you, but…it happened so fast there was nothing we could have done."

Summer looked at her for a few seconds. "How long was I gone? Really?"

"14 days right down to the minute," Dawn answered.

Summer looked down at her feet. "I'm 14 years old right down to the day." Just then, it started raining. Summer screamed.

"It's OK," Connor said, "It's just the rain."

"No, the-there's water…c-coming from the sky. That's not supposed to happen." Summer backed up to the stairs.

Dawn then understood. "You've never seen the rain before, have you?" Summer slowly shook her head. "Which hell were you in?"

"There's more than one?"

"There's 159. Which one were _you_ in?"

Summer looked down at her feet again. "I don't know."

_ANOTHER hour later…_

Willow groaned. "I can't find any hell dimension that matches Summer's description. No rain, a year a day…this would be a lot easier if we knew what _came_ through that portal and then decapitated Cassie."

Wesley was going through the files with Andrew and Giles. "We can't seem to find the Nyazian prophecies. I never completely translated them so they may say something about this, but I can't find them—" Cordelia came up, opened a drawer, and pulled out the prophecies. "How did you—"

"You didn't check under 'C' for 'stuff about Connor'," Cordelia informed them.

"Oh, yes, that would have been obvious!" Giles said, sarcastically.

Wesley put the prophecies on the table and he and Giles immediately went to work translating them. "OK…sired of the soul…father will kill the son…blah, blah, blah…there's nothing in here that doesn't refer to Connor and half of it is false."

"Hang on…" Dawn went over to them, examined the prophecy and noticed something. She picked up a magnifying glass, looked at it more closely, and then turned the prophecy upside-down and turned the glass so that the light was showing directly trough it. A red text seemed to appear in between the lines.

"Dawn, hold it still," Wesley said, looking closer at the text, "I think I can see what it says…'And there shall come by means of magic and bravery a Seer of great power' which must be Dawn 'and of the Seer and the son shall come…' Uh oh."

"'Uh oh'?" Dawn asked, "What 'uh oh'? I hate it when you say 'uh oh'!"

Wesley glanced at her and then went back to translating. "'The Seer and the son shall bear a child and the Daughter of the Seer will release the Darkness.'"

"How original," Buffy stated, sarcastically.

"'The Darkness shall devour all living creatures and absorb the energy, essence, power, and life force of the most powerful of the Dark to come before it.'"

"The Gales," Angela pondered out loud.

"'Should all of them lose themselves to the insanity coming from the Darkness' power, the Darkness will open all the Mouths of Hell in the world.'"

"The Hell-Mouths?" Xander asked, "But Spike permanently closed the main one when he burnt himself to a smoldering husk about four years ago."

"Don't remind me," Spike said.

"How would this Darkness thing open the Hell-Mouth if it's gone for good?"

"No idea," Wesley stated, "But it does say something about one of them being dormant. 'And unless the Daughter of the Seer and the son can destroy the Darkness' power forever, only the Darkness shall reign and shall come…'" Wesley looked up at them. He appeared to be frightened. "'…the end of the world.'"

"AGAIN?!" everyone else cried.


	15. One by One

Chapter 15: One by One

The Gales were sitting in a circle on the floor of their lair.

Isabella groaned. "Who would be dumb enough to kill Cass?"

"I don't know!" Tameeka yelled, "That's what we've been arguing about for the last two hours!"

Darkana stood up. "I'll go back and examine the body." She left, leaving the other three alone. She walked over to Cassie's beheaded body…or at least, the place where it had been. It wasn't there. "What in the—" Before she could go any further, the dark energy known as the Darkness appeared. She started to back up, but it was too fast for her and got to the door first. She stepped into it and it grasped her foot, making her fall to the ground. Slowly, it began to encompass her body. But, instead of devouring her like it had that family, it sunk into her. Her eyes turned from their normal dark blue to a shadow-y dark violet. Darkana/Darkness got up, walked through the door and saw that Tameeka and Melody had left and Isabella was alone. She picked up a sword and walked over to Isabella. She sliced into Isabella's neck the same way the Darkness had done to Cassie. "Ihre macht, mir gehört." With that she beheaded Isabella completely and the Werewolf/Vampire turned to dust.

Melody and Tameeka came in about five minutes later. The first thing she saw was the pile of dust on the floor. "Uh-oh." They looked at each other.

Tameeka went over to the dust. Before she could figure out if it was Isabella or Darkana, the sword flew at her and pierced her heart.

Darkana/Darkness came out of the shadows. "Ich werde zerstören sie alle."

Melody panicked and started to run.

Before she could reach the door, Darkana/Darkness used Isabella's speed to run over there and block it. "You aren't getting away this time."

Melody's eyes turned green with yellow slits and her teeth grew into fangs. She bit the monster in front of her, but she just rebounded back onto Tameeka's unconscious body.

Darkana/Darkness sighed. "Thanks! I needed that."

Melody got up and ran as fast as she could out of the building.

"Kann man aber du kannst nicht verbergen."

Melody finally came to a stop outside of a building she'd never seen before. "Why was Darkana speaking German? And why would she kill us?" She got up and walked over to the building, but bounced off a blue barrier. This building was the STP building!

Inside, a bunch of alarms went off to let them know that an uninvited was trying to cross the threshold. Andrew went to calm down the little Slayers and the rest of the group went outside to see what was going on. The first thing they saw was Melody on the ground by the barriers.

Angela walked over to her, making sure not to cross the barriers. "What are you doing here?"

Melody got up and started to walk over to her, but the barriers stopped her. "Increased Invite Spell. Smart."

"What are you doing here?" Angela asked again.

"I don't know. Darkana went berserk and killed Bella."

"What?"

Wesley ran back inside to examine the prophecy a little more.

"I don't know what happened," Melody explained, "She went to examine Cassie's body. Tammy and I left for like five minutes to beat up the local snitch. When we came back, we saw Isabella's ashes on the floor and Darkana tried to kill us both."

"Did she say anything?" asked Angela, "Anything…out of the ordinary that sounded like a reason she'd want to kill you or something?"

"She was shouting German, does that count?"

Angela sighed, knowing that she and Angel were the only ones that could translate this. "What did she say?"

"I think it was…'Ich werde zerstören sie alle' or something."

"'I shall destroy you all'," Angela translated. She stepped back. "That wasn't Darkana."

"What?"

Wesley came back, carrying the prophecy and magnifying glass in his hands. The change in lighting apparently didn't affect it after the text had appeared once. "It says that the Darkness has the power to corrupt its victim. It must have possessed Darkana."

"So, how do we get it out of her and get the real Darkana back?" asked Melody.

"Who says we want to?" asked Xander.

"I think we'd prefer Darkana with the power the Darkness has in its possessive state," Wesley explained, "Unfortunately…the possession kills the host and absorbs their power. Darkana's dead."

Melody was shocked. "Then Tammy and I are all that's left and she's just about gone."

"What about all that she said about you can't kill a Ghost?" Xander asked.

"That just means that whenever she's about to experience major pain she automatically goes into Ghost form," Melody explained, "But it only works like that if she sees it coming. If it's a surprise or if something's restricting her power, there's not really anything she can do about it."

Dawn then realized something. She pulled Connor aside. "Where's Summer?"

Connor turned to look. Summer wasn't there!

_Meanwhile…_

Summer walked down the street to the Gales' lair. She had skipped out as soon as Melody said Darkana had killed Isabella. She didn't know it was really the Darkness. She figured out which building it was, snuck inside, made sure no one was following her, and then slowly walked over to the door that led to the back room. She cracked it open to see what was going on inside.

Tameeka was chained to a table in the center of the room.

Darkana/Darkness said something in German again then looked at Tameeka. "You really thought you could get out of this?"

"So it's English now, is it?"

"We are in England."

Summer took a step back to take out her stake and caught sight of the Gales' weapons, so she didn't hear the next part of the conversation:

"I know what you are," Tameeka said, "You're the thing that came out of Cassie's hell of choice when we tossed the kid."

"Good guess. I gotta thank you for getting rid of that girl for me, too. She would have killed me. And you released me from my torment of limited power and allowed me to fulfill that prophecy and open all the Hell-Mouths."

"Nice try, but one of the Hell-Mouths is already permanently closed for business."

"It's just dormant. I can reopen it."

Summer picked up one of the Gales' swords quietly, put up her stake, and walked back over to the door.

"Now, let's get this over with." Darkana/Darkness slapped her/its right hand onto Tameeka's heart and dug her/its nails deep into her flesh.

Tameeka cried out and tried to go into Ghost form…but she couldn't. When Darkana/Darkness took her/its (I'm getting tired of saying that) hand back, Tameeka realized what had happened: she/it had taken her powers.

Darkana/Darkness took out a dagger. "Five down…" She slit Tameeka's throat, killing her weak self almost instantly. "One to go."

Summer threw the door open. "Killing your own for the power? Is that what it's come to?" She slammed the door shut behind her.

Darkana/Darkness turned to her. "Do I know you?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh…you're her…Daughter of the Seer." Summer nodded.

The rest of the group (except Melody, of course, who had to stay just outside their barriers) came up to the door and cracked it open the way Summer had done to see what was going on.

"Guess I should have counted on you coming back from Sharusa," Darkana/Darkness said, "Let me guess. Killing the Witch reopened the portal and let you through?" Summer nodded again. "OK, let's do it this way…" She/It Vamped out and jumped at Summer. Summer knocked her/it to the ground, but she/it just kicked her off and knocked her into the wall. Summer threw the sword at her/it, but it just barely missed her/it. "Just like your father." Darkana/Darkness turned back to normal and picked up the sword. "Chop first, ask questions later."

"Where you sent me, I learned to fend for myself before I could walk!" Summer grabbed the dagger that Darkana/Darkness (now I'm getting tired of writing that, too) had used to kill Tameeka.

"I'm not the one that sent you to Sharusa."

"Right, it was the Witch."

Darkana/Darkness then realized that Summer didn't know about the possession. "Right. _The Witch_ opened the portal and _the Werewolf_ tossed you through it."

Willow sighed. "OK," she whispered, "we know four things: 1) the hell Summer was in is called Sharusa. 2) Summer doesn't know about the possession. 3) that thing has Darkana's memories. And 4) it's gonna kill her!"

"We need to help her," Buffy whispered.

"How?" Fred asked, "The only one strong enough to stand up to that thing is Illyria and she can't access her full power inside my body!" She then thought of something Wesley had said. _"We can access any power we ever had when we were alive through her."…I wonder…_ She looked at Wesley for a second and then turned to Dawn. "Brace yourself, I'm going Ghost." She closed her eyes, concentrated, and after a few seconds her Ghost form pulled itself out of Illyria, who fell to the ground. Ghost Fred turned to Dawn again. "Are you ready?"

Dawn smiled and closed her eyes. "Testing Illyria, 1, 2, 3." Fred went into Dawn's body. When Dawn/Fred opened her eyes, they were the all-white that came forth when Dawn used her pyro power. Dawn/Fred peeked through the door and then stepped back. "Here we go." With that, she kicked the door down.


	16. Bad News

Chapter 16: Bad News

Darkana/Darkness smiled evilly at Dawn/Fred. "If it isn't the Seer…the Key."

Dawn/Fred cocked her head the way Illyria sometimes did.

"Mom, get out," Summer said.

Illyria peered through the doorway. Xander came out and started making gestures at Illyria and Dawn/Fred. Summer glanced at him as though she were staring at a monkey in a tutu riding a unicycle. Xander started flapping his arms up and down and moving his hands like he was pushing Illyria at Dawn/Fred. Willow and Buffy started glancing at him like Summer was.

Dawn/Fred and Darkana/Darkness noticed Xander's strange behavior and turned to him.

Xander, upon realizing that they were looking at him, stopped immediately.

Summer turned back to Dawn/Fred. "This is my fight. I'm the one that got sent to hell."

"And I'm the one who lost my daughter because of it," Dawn/Fred said in return.

"Are we going to talk or fight?" asked Darkana/Darkness.

Dawn/Fred turned back to her and smiled. "OK." She held out her hand and time seemed to slow down. She took Summer's dagger and went to use Illyria's old strength to chop off Darkana's/Darkness' head, but Darkana/Darkness grabbed her wrist and twisted it, turning off the time spell. Darkana/Darkness kneed Dawn/Fred in the gut and knocked her back into the wall. "Uh oh." Fred flew out of Dawn's body and pounded into Illyria.

Illyria got up and turned into Fred. "That's not good."

Darkana/Darkness smiled evilly again. "Oh…you turned your messengers?"

Dawn just walked over to Summer and handed her back the dagger.

"Then again, you probably had your little Witch friend do it, huh?"

Dawn pulled Summer's hand behind her back and a golden light circled around their wrists that Darkana/Darkness couldn't see.

_Summer, that's not Darkana, it's the Darkness, _Dawn explained, _It just has some of her memories._

Summer looked at her. _What? How-? I'm confused._

_I'll explain later. You have to kill her…er, it._

Summer turned back to Darkana/Darkness.

"So that's it, huh?" Darkana/Darkness crossed her arms at them. "You're gonna kill me now?"

Summer held the dagger up as a threat. "If need be." She started to slowly walk towards the possessed dead body, angrier than before as she stared at the mocking violet eyes that were now taunting her. "And don't think I won't hesitate to kill you when I get the chance."

"So you know then?"

"About what?"

"Don't play games with me. The demons of my world are the ones that taught you these tricks."

"Not really. You said yourself I'm just like my father."

Connor smiled.

Darkana/Darkness rolled her eyes. "By the way…the fight…" She kicked Summer and she dropped the dagger and banged into the wall. "I'm gonna win."

Dawn looked at Summer and then glared at Darkana/Darkness (that's it, I'm not writing that anymore). "Big mistake." She held up her hands and her eyes turned white again. Lightning came at…the bad guy…and electrocuted her. A gale force wind came at her and knocked her into the wall as though Illyria had punched her and she literally went through the wall. Dawn turned back to normal and realized that her pyro power wasn't the power she'd activated. "Whoa."

"And I thought Evelyn was impressive," said Angela.

_Later…_

"Dawn's not just a pyro!" Wesley exclaimed in the meeting room, "She has atmokinesis, too! This is amazing!"

"And she can control the weather!" Xander cried. Giles whispered something in his ear. "Oh." He sighed. "You know, I'm tired of looking like the idiot."

"Good luck on that category," Dawn said.

Connor smiled. "And we're sure the Darkness isn't still in Darkana?"

"An impact like the one she took from Dawn's…blow…was powerful enough to knock anything out of her," said Giles, not intending to make a pun.

Andrew came into the room. "Where are Angela and Summer?"

"Angela's letting Summer borrow some of her clothes," Buffy explained, "By the way, what are we going to do about Melody?"

"We'll have to let Angela decide on that," Angel said. Angela came in. "Right on cue."

Summer peered through the door. Instead of the dark green tank top and jeans she'd been wearing in Sharusa, she was now wearing a brown mini skirt and a white T-shirt with tie-up sleeves and a print of green flowers on the front.

"Wow." Xander got up. "Anya, be careful. I think I'm falling for Dawn's daughter." He walked over to Summer. "You look…like a girl!"

"Thank you…I think."

"Uh, Xander, Summer, we have a bigger problem," Tara said, "What are we going to do about Melody?"

Melody waited outside the barriers. She sat on the sidewalk just outside them.

Suddenly, Angela came up to the barriers. "Come in, Mel."

Melody was shocked. Not only did the one girl in the whole world that hated her the most just invite her in, but she had used the nickname she had sworn she would never say again. "What?"

"You heard me. Get inside the barriers before I change my mind."

Melody got up, slowly and reluctantly, and stepped through the barriers. "Why are you doing this?"

"Let me make it simple: if the Darkness kills you, it's going to have enough power to open all the Hell-Mouths. We can't take that risk because it might destroy the world. Ergo…we help you." Angela turned and walked up the stairs to the front door of the building, but Melody didn't follow. "You coming or are you gonna wait for it to come and kill you?"

Melody took one last glance outside the barriers and ran over to Angela.

Angela made her wait just outside the meeting room and went in herself and closed the door behind her. "We can't let the Darkness get to her. I can't believe I'm saying this but…we have to protect Melody." She grabbed her own throat. "Somebody pinch me." Andrew pinched her. "OW!"

"Not a dream," Andrew said.

_Two hours later…_

Summer lay in her bed, asleep. When she emerged in a dream, she found herself in the lobby of the building. "What?"

"I see you added Summer to our link, Dawn."

Summer turned around to see Connor leaning against the wall next to Dawn, the rest of the group nearby.

"I couldn't resist," Dawn said.

Summer looked around. "What is going on?"

"You're on the DreamScape with us," Willow explained, "About seven years ago, Angel and Angela killed a telepathic demon and took its power, starting a telepathic link between the two and it slowly expanded to include all of us. Anyway, I cast a spell to enable us to communicate in our sleep and here we are, with the ability to show each other anything."

"Wow," Summer said, "And let me guess, time has no meaning here."

"Exactly," Willow said, "How'd you know that?"

"Because that clock's not moving," Summer explained, pointing to the clock on the wall that had a second hand that was completely frozen.

Buffy smiled. "Brilliant deduction, Watson."

"Huh?"

"Pop culture reference, sorry."

Summer smiled. "So if time has no meaning here…why don't we spend the next two seconds catching me up on the past 10 years?"

Dawn smiled. "You got it." She closed her eyes and in a flash of light, they were gone.

While everyone was asleep, the Darkness emerged just outside the barriers. It snuck through the barriers and crawled through the doors and into the building. It slowly made its way through the lobby, down the hall, and into the room where they were keeping Melody.

Back on the DreamScape, the group reappeared in the lobby.

"Wow," Summer said, "You sure went through a lot before I came along."

"We're going through a lot now," Xander said, indicating Anya to remind her that Anya had recently had a kid.

"Right," Summer said, "So, how long do we want to have been asleep?"

Angela giggled. "Let's make it five hours." She pointed at the clock and the hour hand turned five times. "We better wake up." She closed her eyes a light surrounded them and they all woke up…to screaming. Angela scrambled out of her bed and raced into the hall to meet the rest of the group. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Xander said, "But by the sound of that scream, an uninvited got in."

"There's no way they could have broken through my barriers," Willow said.

"You wanna go test that theory?" Angel asked. They all ran down the hall. Angel smelled something halfway down the hall and kicked down one of the doors. One of the Slayers had been slaughtered. He turned to the rest of the group. Andrew was freaking out and Faith and Buffy were just as shocked as he was. Then he realized what had happened. "Melody." He led them down the hall to the room they were keeping Melody in to find her mutilated body on the floor and her blood spattered on the walls.

"OK…" Cordelia shuddered.

"Wait…" Angela thought for a few seconds. "If the Darkness killed Melody while we were sleeping, wouldn't the Hell-Mouths have opened already?"

"You wanna find out?" Faith asked in return.

Angela sensed something.

"What is it?" Angel asked, noticing her strange behavior.

Angela just ran out and to the lobby. She swung open the lobby doors, letting in a stream of darkness and cold night air. Sure enough, the Darkness was making its way back to the barriers.

The Darkness materialized and turned into Melody.

"It took Darkana's powers when it killed her," Angela realized.

"Melody" smiled. "I see you figured that out easy enough." She/it turned to leave.

"HOLD IT!" Willow shouted, making it turn back to her, "You may have gotten in, but if an uninvited steps _out_ without our permission, then she…or he…or it…automatically gets destroyed. So HA!" She smiled in self-satisfaction.

But the Darkness simply stepped through the barriers with no reaction, making Willow stop smiling. "Ooh, ah, it stings," she/it mocked, "Only the Daughter of the Seer can destroy me, you idiots! Deal with it!" There was a flash of lightning. The Darkness was gone.

Angela fell back on the floor of the lobby.

"Angela!" Angel helped his sister up. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, but I don't think the world's going to be when the Darkness makes its way to the nearest Hell-Mouth."


	17. Possessed

Chapter 17: Possessed

While the rest of the group was out patrolling with the remaining little Slayers the next evening, Angel and Angela were guarding the building should the Darkness come back or some other uninvited break through the barriers.

Angela was in the meeting room alone, reading a book. Suddenly, she got a headache and groaned. She put her book on the table and went over to the fridge. She opened it and took out her thermos of blood. After she closed the door and turned around, she ran into Angel and gasped, stepping back into the fridge. "What is wrong with you? Must you always sneak around like that?"

"Yes, it's fun," Angel answered. Angela gave him a look and opened her thermos before walking off. Angel just followed her. "Look, I just wanted to see how you were doing. You've been a bit on edge since the last time we saw the Darkness. I mean, all of the Gales, your worst enemies, have been slaughtered and the world hasn't ended yet like it should have. Shouldn't you be completely ecstatic?"

Angela smiled. "Look, I…Angel?" She collapsed.

Angel caught her before she could fall. He grabbed her thermos and put it on the table and then laid her on the couch. "Angela?"

Angela looked at him. She looked weaker. She almost fell off the couch, but Angel caught her again. This time, her eyes were closed and…she wasn't herself. When she opened her eyes, they were violet. That wasn't one of her traditional colors…it was the color Darkana's eyes had turned when the Darkness took her over. "I shall destroy you all."

Angel didn't need to hear anymore. He was panicking. He punched her.

The rest of the group chose then to come in. The main thing they noticed was Angel standing over Angela's unconscious body.

"I guess we came a little late," Buffy said.

Angel went over to Wesley. "I think we have a problem…the reason the Darkness didn't destroy the world already is because it thinks Angela's still one of the Gales."

[Music in the background tenses up as the camera shows each of their shocked and frightened faces.]

"That's not good," Dawn finally broke the silence.

_Two hours later…_

Angela/Darkness woke up in a circle of salt on the floor of the room Melody had been in (which Cordelia had spent three hours scrubbing).

Dawn took one look through the door and then quietly closed it and turned back to the group. "A circle of salt? I thought that was only supposed to help with evil Witches, Zombies, and ex-boyfriends." She, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Tara, Willow, and Evelyn all laughed. Everyone else just looked at them until they stopped laughing. "Hocus Pocus?" Same response. "Didn't you people ever watch TV?"

Willow smiled. "Look, it's supposed to help hold back evil. I think it should work until we can find a way to get the Darkness out of Angela."

"You mean she's not a walking corpse?" Angel asked, hopefully.

"Oh, she is, but she has been for over 200 years," Willow explained, "Darkana was half-demon and didn't have a soul in any way so it was easier to kill her. Angela's still alive…er, half-dead in there somewhere until the Darkness leaves. Whether she turns to dust afterward or not is up to us."

"OK, so we take turns watching her—it and call for help if anything happens," Wesley suggested, "I'll go first." He reached for the door, but Angel stopped him.

"She's my sister, I'm taking first watch."

Buffy stopped him. "We can't risk anything happening to you."

"And I can't risk anything happening to Wesley," Fred intercepted, "I have Illyria. I'm going in."

Wesley stopped her. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous."

"Well, what are we going to do, draw straws?" Spike said, "While we're out here fighting, that thing could be in there in Angel's sister's body plotting a way to break out and kill us all!"

Buffy sighed. "Spike's got a point. We can't fight about this, we just have to do something to make sure the Darkness does _not_ escape. I VOTE WESLEY!"

Wesley was taken aback but regained his composure and moved to open the door. "Fine." He started to go in, but then came back, and grabbed a sword first. He went into the room and closed the door behind him.

The Darkness was out, trying to break down the barriers put up by the circle when it noticed Wesley. "So they sent you in, huh? A would-be Watcher trying to stand up to a supreme power?"

"I think I can handle you after helping to kill a former Power and to trap Angelus last time he was released," Wesley said, putting down the sword and sitting down on a nearby chair, "Then again, all we really know about you is that you're made up of dark energy, have the ability to possess other creatures, and can only be destroyed by Summer."

The Darkness scoffed. "That's what you call that creature? Name her after the Season of Light. You must have always known she would stand up to me."

"Not really, her parents named her that. They must have believed she would stand up to evil, period."

The Darkness smiled evilly. "And you named Anyanka's child after the Season of Downfall. That demon kid is going places. I can tell." It began to pace back and forth inside the circle.

"Again, her parents named her…well, actually Dawn named her but Xander and Anya approved the name."

The Darkness rolled its eyes. "Is this a tradition with you creatures? To have the bearers name the offspring? Last time I walked this earth, Illyria was God-King of the Primordium and all creatures fashioned their own."

"You were in our dimension during Illyria's time?" Wesley patched the conversation through to the other's parts in the link.

Fred sighed and leaned back in her chair. She then felt Wesley's connection coming through. "Guys…" She closed her eyes and tuned in and the others did the same.

"Yes, I was here in Illyria's reign," the Darkness said, "Ruled this land like you idiotic creatures never could." The Darkness stopped pacing and sat down in the center of the circle. "I was created in the Fire of Re'Mor not long after the First Shadow showed its face. I was its offspring and it put all its energy and power into me…before fading in the Light and leaving me as the sole power of darkness at the time."

"The First Shadow…the First Evil's 'Offspring of Darkness,' the beginning of the Remori demon clan."

The Darkness smiled again. "You know much. You will do well in this fight. All was going well for me until I attempted to use my full power…"

"…_That was my downfall thanks to that stupid Slayer that opened the portal to hell in what is now Germany and banished me to Sharusa. I was trapped for what felt like millennia…and then the Nyazian prophecies were written."_

Summer couldn't believe what she was hearing. Connor was having an even harder time. Was the Darkness implying that it was their fault and not the Gales that it came back?

"You're saying that your return only came about because it was prophesied?" Wesley asked.

"No…and yes. My return itself was never to come. In fact, that's why that part of the text was strictly forbidden to be seen by human eyes until the true half was to be fulfilled. The idiot Nyazians who wrote the prophecies didn't believe it was true that I could come back from a hell dimension so highly unreachable. Second worst hell dimension in the word, second only to Quor'Toth. The portal itself had been sealed off for centuries, never to be opened again lest I arise once more. But then it happened. Two Vampires, unable to conceive, bore a child. And there was no birth, only the mother staking herself. And the Vampire hunter came through a loophole in time thanks to a demon named Sahjhan who didn't want to get killed. And Holtz took the child to a hell dimension, brought him back as a teenager, and the boy helped give birth to an evil Power and his father…gave him away. Only for him to come back a year later and spend the next two years falling in love. And then _BOOM!_" The Darkness smacked its hands together. "The girl, the Key, the Slayer's sister, turns out to be the Seer from the prophecies and they get a kid and the Gales, the most powerful evil around, get scared and toss her to my dimension, closing the portal permanently behind her. I'm released and the kid's not coming back. Just think…"

"…_if they hadn't been so blind as to think that that kid was a threat to _them _and not _me _they would have _lived _to see another day. But no, they had to get rid of her. And now here I am with all their power ready to take the world in my hands, just like I should have nearly 5000 years ago."_

Dawn couldn't take it anymore. She opened her eyes and left. Buffy and Connor followed. Angel opened his eyes but didn't get up from his chair.

Wesley ended the link to the conversation when he felt Dawn, Connor, Buffy, and Angel all zone out.

"You, on the other hand, aren't so lucky, I believe," said the Darkness, "You got kicked out of the Watchers' Council after your first job."

"Let me guess, you're tuned in on Angela's memories," Wesley said, crossing his arms at the Darkness.

"Yes, I am. Good guess. You were kicked out. Weren't good enough for them. They didn't want you. Why do you think these brave warriors would want you either?"

Wesley didn't need to hear anymore. In one rapid motion, he grabbed the sword and pushed the blade through the barriers, stabbing the Darkness in the shoulder. "You're using Melody's powers. Don't think I'll fall for these dumb tricks."

What Wesley didn't know was that the Darkness had let Angela out so that she would feel the pain instead. When Angela opened her eyes Wesley saw the peace and kindness in them and pulled the sword out, afraid to release Aingael. "Wesley?" Angela fell down, practically unconscious.

Wesley stepped back, dropped the sword, and left. He came into the lobby just as Dawn, Connor, and Buffy came back in. "Angel, I think you need to get in here."

Angela lay on the ground by the circle, unmoving. Except for her eyes. They were still violet, but there was more of her in there than the Darkness right now. She glanced around what part of the room she could see and noticed Angel coming into the room, closing the door behind him. "Angel?" She only needed to say that much for the pain to come back. She grabbed the spot where Wesley had stabbed her.

Angel walked over to her and knelt down beside her. "It's OK, I'm here." He reached through the barriers and grabbed her hand.

Angela tried to smile but she couldn't. "I can't do it, Angel. I can't wait for it to kill me like this."

"I know it hurts, but you've gotta hold on."

"I can't. I have to let it take me. Otherwise, it's gonna kill you all."

"If you let it take you it'll destroy the whole world…and me first."

"You're strong, Angel. You and Buffy can stop an apocalypse. You've done it a thousand times before. I can't help you. I'm not strong enough. Summer will kill it, you and Buffy will save the world, and I'll…" She grabbed her shoulder again with her free hand.

Angel stood up. "No. We're supposed to die together, at the same time, remember?" Angela looked at him as he let go of her hand. "I'm not letting anything happen to you." He dashed out, leaving her there, practically crying. He raced back to the lobby. "Willow! Get ready to break the circle."

"What?!"

"Just trust me on this." Angel went over to Summer. "Summer…we're gonna need you as bait."

"Oh, great."

"No, bait." Angel walked off.

10 minutes later, the group got ready in the hall just outside the room.

Summer looked at her parents one last time and then opened the door.

Angela looked at her and instantly felt the Darkness coming out.

"You must be the Darkness." Summer knelt down just outside the circle. "Thing I'm supposed to kill. That's what you wanted when we were fighting while you were in Darkana, right? To destroy me? Well, I'm right here." The Darkness smiled at her. "Come and get it." Summer took one swipe at the floor and broke the circle like they'd planned. The Darkness jumped at her, but Spike jumped on it and pinned it to the ground, Vamped out.

The Darkness punched him in the face, knocking him off, but not before Angel got over there.

Angel kicked it, allowing Spike to grab it again. Angel got down on the floor next to it, took out a dagger, and cut his hand open. "My blood…" He took Angela's hand and cut it open. "Your blood…" He put their hands together. "Our blood!" There was a flash of light and he was launched backwards and through the window.

Buffy ran over there first, followed by Dawn and Spike…and the rest of them who wouldn't fit. "Angel, are you OK?!"

Angel got up. "I'm fine. We're on the first floor. How's Angela?"

The group turned in time to see the Darkness make its way out of Angela and turn into its full form next to her unconscious body. The Darkness was the same dark figure as always, but was now more distinguishable. It was a person made up of entirely darkness but it was really hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl…because it was neither. It was a being composed entirely of the shadows of the world and was now at its full power.

"OK, I think it better when it was inside Angela," Cordelia said.


End file.
